Sovran Advisors LLC Invests $774,000 in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Sovran Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 2,083 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $774,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Carnegie Investment Counsel increased its holdings in Caterpillar by 24.3% in the 3rd quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 2,677 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,047,000 after buying an additional 524 shares during the period. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH boosted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 99.4% in the 3rd quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH now owns 1,747 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $683,000 after acquiring an additional 871 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 3.4% during the third quarter. Empirical Asset Management LLC now owns 1,373 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $537,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC lifted its position in Caterpillar by 26.4% during the third quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 1,187 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $464,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares during the period. Finally, CX Institutional boosted its holdings in Caterpillar by 872.0% in the third quarter. CX Institutional now owns 26,788 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $10,477,000 after purchasing an additional 24,032 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

CAT opened at $362.61 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $175.07 billion, a PE ratio of 16.43, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. Caterpillar Inc. has a twelve month low of $307.05 and a twelve month high of $418.50. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $375.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $371.86.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.97 by $0.17. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 58.18% and a net margin of 16.65%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 20.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be issued a $1.41 dividend. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 21st. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.56%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Caterpillar news, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 45,182 shares in the company, valued at $17,173,226.38. The trade was a 18.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 6,279 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $408.59, for a total value of $2,565,536.61. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 33,565 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,714,323.35. This represents a 15.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CAT has been the subject of several analyst reports. StockNews.com raised Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Caterpillar from $299.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $452.00 to $414.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. 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 note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Caterpillar from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the company from $355.00 to $385.00 in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $383.13.

About Caterpillar

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.