Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC Increases Stock Position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 3.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,247 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $815,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of CAT. Merit Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 30.7% during the 4th quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 20,178 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $7,320,000 after purchasing an additional 4,737 shares during the period. Chemistry Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Caterpillar by 43.2% during the fourth quarter. Chemistry Wealth Management LLC now owns 891 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $323,000 after buying an additional 269 shares in the last quarter. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC grew its position in Caterpillar by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC now owns 1,689 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $613,000 after buying an additional 108 shares during the period. CNB Bank increased its holdings in Caterpillar by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. CNB Bank now owns 5,921 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,148,000 after buying an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Saxon Interests Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Saxon Interests Inc. now owns 3,291 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,194,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on CAT shares. Morgan Stanley downgraded Caterpillar from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $349.00 to $332.00 in a research note on Monday, October 14th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Caterpillar from $285.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $455.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Caterpillar from an “underperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $365.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $380.60.

Caterpillar Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of CAT stock opened at $386.03 on Friday. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1-year low of $277.66 and a 1-year high of $418.50. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $380.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $366.76. The firm has a market cap of $186.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.90, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 0.86.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.17 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.33 by ($0.16). Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.26% and a return on equity of 59.09%. The company had revenue of $16.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.37 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $5.52 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.68 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be given a dividend of $1.41 per share. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 21st. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.15%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Cheryl H. Johnson sold 2,664 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $378.84, for a total transaction of $1,009,229.76. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,906,356.84. This represents a 17.06 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $380.09, for a total value of $3,800,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 45,182 shares in the company, valued at $17,173,226.38. This trade represents a 18.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 33,868 shares of company stock worth $13,480,389 over the last three months. 0.29% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Caterpillar Profile

Caterpillar Inc manufactures and sells construction and mining equipment, off-highway diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines, and diesel-electric locomotives in worldwide. Its Construction Industries segment offers asphalt pavers, compactors, road reclaimers, forestry machines, cold planers, material handlers, track-type tractors, excavators, telehandlers, motor graders, and pipelayers; compact track, wheel, track-type, backhoe, and skid steer loaders; and related parts and tools.