MBE Wealth Management LLC Grows Position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

MBE Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 36.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 717 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 191 shares during the quarter. MBE Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $260,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CAT. Ascent Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 19.3% in the 2nd quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 953 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $317,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the period. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $742,000. Silver Lake Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $322,000. Granite FO LLC purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $228,000. Finally, Covington Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $4,775,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on CAT. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Caterpillar from $299.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com lowered Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Evercore ISI raised Caterpillar from an “underperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $365.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Caterpillar from $455.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Caterpillar from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Caterpillar currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $380.60.

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In other news, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The stock was 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 owns 45,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,173,226.38. The trade was a 18.12 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 968 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $380.98, for a total value of $368,788.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,686 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $642,332.28. This trade represents a 36.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 33,868 shares of company stock worth $13,480,389. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Caterpillar Trading Down 3.2 %

Shares of NYSE:CAT opened at $394.60 on Tuesday. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12-month low of $297.45 and a 12-month high of $418.50. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $381.07 and its 200-day simple moving average is $369.79. The company has a market capitalization of $190.51 billion, a PE ratio of 18.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.17 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.33 by ($0.16). Caterpillar had a return on equity of 59.09% and a net margin of 16.26%. The business had revenue of $16.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.37 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $5.52 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

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 paid a dividend of $1.41 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 21st. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.43%. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is presently 26.15%.

Caterpillar Company 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.