US Bancorp DE Has $199.08 Million Stock Holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

US Bancorp DE lessened its holdings in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 1.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 548,782 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 10,259 shares during the quarter. US Bancorp DE’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $199,076,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 50,072.7% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 804,770 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $291,938,000 after buying an additional 803,166 shares during the period. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI grew its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 4,018.6% in the 3rd quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 255,355 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $99,874,000 after buying an additional 249,155 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC grew its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 36,168.5% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 227,041 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $82,361,000 after buying an additional 226,415 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 8,952,632 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,501,554,000 after buying an additional 205,012 shares during the period. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 34.4% in the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 782,133 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $305,908,000 after buying an additional 200,210 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Gerald Johnson bought 100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $398.57 per share, with a total value of $39,857.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 2,953 shares in the company, valued at $1,176,977.21. This trade represents a 3.51 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,425 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $354.70, for a total transaction of $860,147.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 6,275 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,225,742.50. This trade represents a 27.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.29% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on CAT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $515.00 to $490.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Wedbush raised shares of Caterpillar to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $420.00 to $430.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $330.00 to $300.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of Caterpillar from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $355.00 to $385.00 in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $383.80.

Caterpillar Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:CAT opened at $343.90 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $365.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $372.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 0.89. Caterpillar Inc. has a one year low of $307.05 and a one year high of $418.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $164.36 billion, a PE ratio of 15.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.12.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.97 by $0.17. Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.65% and a return on equity of 58.18%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st were issued a $1.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, January 21st. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.64%. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is 25.56%.

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.