Vision Capital Management Inc. Boosts Position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Vision Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 5.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,020 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the quarter. Vision Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $370,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. FSM Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. FSM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 688 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $262,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 2.6% during the third quarter. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC now owns 1,037 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $405,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the period. 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 worth $1,541,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the period. First Bank & Trust lifted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 4.0% during the third quarter. First Bank & Trust now owns 709 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $277,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the period. Finally, Washington Trust Bank lifted its holdings in Caterpillar by 1.2% in the third quarter. Washington Trust Bank now owns 2,349 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $919,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares during the period. 70.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CAT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI raised Caterpillar from an “underperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $365.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Caterpillar from $515.00 to $490.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group raised Caterpillar from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the company from $355.00 to $385.00 in a report on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Caterpillar from $455.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their price target on Caterpillar from $350.00 to $357.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $379.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In other Caterpillar news, Director Gerald Johnson purchased 100 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was bought at an average price of $398.57 per share, for a total transaction of $39,857.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 2,953 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,176,977.21. This represents a 3.51 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of Caterpillar 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 directly owns 45,182 shares in the company, valued at $17,173,226.38. This represents a 18.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Caterpillar Trading Down 0.8 %

Caterpillar stock opened at $359.04 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $173.35 billion, a PE ratio of 16.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.12. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $379.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $371.31. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52 week low of $307.05 and a 52 week high of $418.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.97 by $0.17. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 58.18% and a net margin of 16.65%. Equities research analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be issued a $1.41 dividend. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 21st. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.