Waverton Investment Management Ltd Makes New $204,000 Investment in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Waverton Investment Management Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 562 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $204,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in Caterpillar by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 635,750 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $231,686,000 after purchasing an additional 10,212 shares in the last quarter. West Wealth Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the 4th quarter worth $230,000. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI raised its holdings in Caterpillar by 43.0% in the third quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 13,902 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,437,000 after purchasing an additional 4,181 shares in the last quarter. Cadinha & Co. LLC purchased a new stake in Caterpillar during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $11,084,000. Finally, Atomi Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 23,193 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $8,414,000 after purchasing an additional 871 shares in the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Caterpillar Stock Down 2.7 %

Shares of CAT stock opened at $339.84 on Monday. Caterpillar Inc. has a twelve month low of $307.05 and a twelve month high of $418.50. The stock has a market cap of $162.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.12. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $368.73 and a 200 day moving average of $372.72. 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 earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.97 by $0.17. Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.65% and a return on equity of 58.18%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Gerald Johnson bought 100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $365.57 per share, for a total transaction of $36,557.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,425 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $354.70, for a total transaction of $860,147.50. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 6,275 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,225,742.50. This represents a 27.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 18,704 shares of company stock worth $7,226,584 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CAT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wedbush upgraded Caterpillar to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $515.00 to $490.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $330.00 to $300.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $350.00 to $357.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Caterpillar from $299.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Two equities research 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 currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $383.80.

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.