BSW Wealth Partners Buys 813 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

BSW Wealth Partners raised its stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 40.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,842 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 813 shares during the period. BSW Wealth Partners’ holdings in Caterpillar were worth $1,031,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the third quarter worth about $36,000. Albion Financial Group UT boosted its holdings in Caterpillar by 334.8% during the 4th quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the period. Kimelman & Baird LLC raised its holdings in Caterpillar by 42.9% during the 3rd quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC now owns 100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 130.0% in the fourth quarter. Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC now owns 115 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

Shares of Caterpillar stock opened at $390.29 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $188.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.13. The business has a 50-day moving average of $381.27 and a 200 day moving average of $370.23. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12 month low of $297.45 and a 12 month high of $418.50.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its 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 return on equity of 59.09% and a net margin of 16.26%. The firm had revenue of $16.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.37 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.52 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be issued a dividend of $1.41 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 21st. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.45%. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is currently 26.15%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on CAT shares. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $295.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $455.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Morgan Stanley cut Caterpillar from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $349.00 to $332.00 in a research report on Monday, October 14th. StockNews.com cut Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised Caterpillar from an “underperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $365.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Three equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $384.60.

Insider Transactions at Caterpillar

In other news, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 968 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $380.98, for a total value of $368,788.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,686 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $642,332.28. This represents a 36.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gerald Johnson bought 100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $398.57 per share, for a total transaction of $39,857.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 2,953 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,176,977.21. This trade represents a 3.51 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 33,868 shares of company stock worth $13,480,389. 0.29% of the stock is currently 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.