Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC Increases Stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 626.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 363 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 313 shares during the period. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $132,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Caterpillar in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Albion Financial Group UT raised its holdings in Caterpillar by 334.8% in the 4th quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the period. Kimelman & Baird LLC boosted its position in Caterpillar by 42.9% during the third quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC now owns 100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC increased its position in shares of Caterpillar by 130.0% in the fourth quarter. Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC now owns 115 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on CAT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Caterpillar from $515.00 to $490.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $299.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Bank of America cut their price objective on Caterpillar from $452.00 to $414.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on Caterpillar from $420.00 to $430.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $383.13.

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In other news, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 45,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,173,226.38. The trade was a 18.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 6,279 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $408.59, for a total value of $2,565,536.61. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 33,565 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,714,323.35. The trade was a 15.76 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

NYSE:CAT opened at $353.31 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $372.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $372.14. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1-year low of $307.05 and a 1-year high of $418.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $170.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.01, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.12.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. Analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 20.05 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be paid a dividend of $1.41 per share. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 21st. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.