LM Advisors LLC Invests $467,000 in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

LM Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 1,286 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $467,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 0.7% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 729,654 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $285,382,000 after buying an additional 5,371 shares during the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P grew its holdings in Caterpillar by 120.4% during the 3rd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 3,854 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,507,000 after acquiring an additional 2,105 shares in the last quarter. Qsemble Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,123,000. Townsquare Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 5.1% during the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 27,438 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $10,732,000 after purchasing an additional 1,338 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hardy Reed LLC grew its stake in Caterpillar by 2.8% in the third quarter. Hardy Reed LLC now owns 4,093 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,601,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on CAT. UBS Group raised Caterpillar from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $355.00 to $385.00 in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $452.00 to $414.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $515.00 to $490.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $420.00 to $430.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $350.00 to $357.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $383.80.

Caterpillar Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:CAT opened at $340.91 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $162.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.45, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.15. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1-year low of $307.05 and a 1-year high of $418.50. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $356.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $372.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.42.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.97 by $0.17. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 58.18% and a net margin of 16.65%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In other Caterpillar news, Director Gerald Johnson acquired 100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $365.57 per share, for a total transaction of $36,557.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,116,085.21. The trade was a 3.39 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of the company’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 owns 45,182 shares in the company, valued at $17,173,226.38. This represents a 18.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

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.