Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) Shares Bought by Field & Main Bank

Field & Main Bank lifted its holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 7,881 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the quarter. Field & Main Bank’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $2,859,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Allen Capital Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Allen Capital Group LLC now owns 4,247 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,541,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Forsta AP Fonden grew its position in Caterpillar by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 143,400 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $52,020,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Caterpillar by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 846 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $327,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Foster Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 20.4% in the 4th quarter. Foster Group Inc. now owns 1,281 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $465,000 after buying an additional 217 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC lifted its stake in Caterpillar by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC now owns 1,854 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $672,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on CAT shares. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $295.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday. Evercore ISI upgraded Caterpillar from an “underperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $365.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. StockNews.com cut shares of Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $299.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Caterpillar from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $384.60.

Caterpillar Price Performance

Shares of CAT stock opened at $396.17 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $381.27 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $370.23. The stock has a market cap of $191.27 billion, a PE ratio of 18.34, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.13. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52-week low of $299.93 and a 52-week high of $418.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.40.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.33 by ($0.16). The company had revenue of $16.11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.37 billion. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 59.09% and a net margin of 16.26%. The firm’s revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $5.52 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.69 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be paid a $1.41 dividend. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 21st. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is 26.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 968 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $380.98, for a total value of $368,788.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,686 shares in the company, valued at approximately $642,332.28. This trade represents a 36.47 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Cheryl H. Johnson sold 2,664 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $378.84, for a total value of $1,009,229.76. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 12,951 shares in the company, valued at $4,906,356.84. This represents a 17.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 33,868 shares of company stock worth $13,480,389. 0.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Caterpillar Company 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.