Financial Management Professionals Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Financial Management Professionals Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 34.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 563 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $204,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in CAT. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Fairscale Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the second quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC boosted its position 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 purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Finally, Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC grew its stake in Caterpillar by 130.0% during the 4th quarter. Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC now owns 115 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Caterpillar Price Performance

Shares of CAT opened at $386.03 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.40. The firm has a market cap of $186.38 billion, a PE ratio of 17.90, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.13. Caterpillar Inc. has a twelve month low of $277.66 and a twelve month high of $418.50. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $380.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $367.29.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last announced its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $16.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.37 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.52 EPS. Caterpillar’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 21st. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.46%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.15%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on CAT shares. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $285.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $455.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Caterpillar from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com lowered Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Evercore ISI raised Caterpillar from an “underperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $365.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $380.60.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Cheryl H. Johnson sold 2,664 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $378.84, for a total value of $1,009,229.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,951 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,906,356.84. This represents a 17.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Daniel M. Dickinson sold 1,300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $418.00, for a total transaction of $543,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,079,968. This represents a 20.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 33,868 shares of company stock valued at $13,480,389 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

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.