MONECO Advisors LLC Boosts Stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

MONECO Advisors LLC increased its position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 20.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,478 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 919 shares during the period. MONECO Advisors LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $1,987,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,213,455 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,987,206,000 after purchasing an additional 67,148 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in 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 acquiring an additional 205,012 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in Caterpillar by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,627,513 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,418,793,000 after acquiring an additional 64,452 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Caterpillar by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,227,378 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,262,290,000 after acquiring an additional 8,088 shares during the period. Finally, Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Caterpillar by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,349,608 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $527,859,000 after acquiring an additional 30,609 shares during the period. 70.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In other Caterpillar news, Director Gerald Johnson purchased 100 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were bought at an average price of $365.57 per share, with a total value of $36,557.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 3,053 shares in the company, valued at $1,116,085.21. This trade represents a 3.39 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,425 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $354.70, for a total value of $860,147.50. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,275 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,225,742.50. This represents a 27.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 18,704 shares of company stock valued at $7,226,584. 0.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on CAT shares. Citigroup boosted their price target on Caterpillar from $420.00 to $430.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group upgraded Caterpillar from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $355.00 to $385.00 in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Caterpillar from $299.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. DA Davidson boosted their target price on Caterpillar from $350.00 to $357.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Caterpillar from $330.00 to $300.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $383.80.

Caterpillar Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CAT opened at $339.84 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $368.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $372.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $162.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.12. 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 12 month low of $307.05 and a 12 month high of $418.50.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last posted 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 return on equity of 58.18% and a net margin of 16.65%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 21st were paid a $1.41 dividend. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, January 21st. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is currently 25.56%.

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.