Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Acquires 626 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 0.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 256,111 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 626 shares during the quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $92,907,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in CAT. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the 4th quarter worth approximately $353,231,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its position in Caterpillar by 50,072.7% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 804,770 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $291,938,000 after buying an additional 803,166 shares during the last quarter. Amundi lifted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 17.3% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,166,087 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $782,109,000 after buying an additional 318,891 shares during the last quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI grew its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 4,018.6% during the 3rd quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 255,355 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $99,874,000 after acquiring an additional 249,155 shares during the period. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC increased its holdings in 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 worth $82,361,000 after acquiring an additional 226,415 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CAT has been the topic of several recent research reports. 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 report on Friday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $455.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. UBS Group raised shares of Caterpillar from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $355.00 to $385.00 in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup lifted 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. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Caterpillar from $365.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $383.80.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

NYSE CAT opened at $338.60 on Thursday. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52-week low of $307.05 and a 52-week high of $418.50. The company has a fifty day moving average of $359.41 and a 200-day moving average of $372.23. The company has a market capitalization of $161.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.15. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data 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%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Caterpillar news, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 45,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,173,226.38. The trade was a 18.12 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed 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 that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $354.70, for a total value of $860,147.50. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 6,275 shares of the company’s stock, 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. 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.