Teacher Retirement System of Texas Boosts Stock Position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 38.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 256,626 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 70,915 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas owned 0.05% of Caterpillar worth $93,094,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 0.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,213,455 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,987,206,000 after buying an additional 67,148 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Caterpillar by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 9,081,775 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,294,505,000 after purchasing an additional 129,143 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in shares of Caterpillar by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,627,513 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,418,793,000 after purchasing an additional 64,452 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Caterpillar by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,289,101 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,193,154,000 after buying an additional 61,723 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi increased its stake in Caterpillar by 17.3% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,166,087 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $782,109,000 after acquiring an additional 318,891 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on CAT. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $455.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $330.00 to $300.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $452.00 to $414.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Wedbush raised Caterpillar to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on Caterpillar from $420.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $383.80.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Gerald Johnson purchased 100 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $365.57 per share, with a total value of $36,557.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 3,053 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,116,085.21. This trade represents a 3.39 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,425 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $354.70, for a total transaction of $860,147.50. Following the sale, the insider now owns 6,275 shares in the company, 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. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Caterpillar Price Performance

Shares of Caterpillar stock opened at $338.60 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $359.41 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $372.23. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12-month low of $307.05 and a 12-month high of $418.50. The firm has a market cap of $161.83 billion, a PE ratio of 15.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released 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%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current year.

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.