Plancorp LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Plancorp LLC increased its stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 26.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,455 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 512 shares during the period. Plancorp LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $891,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vestor Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Caterpillar by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Vestor Capital LLC now owns 10,754 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,901,000 after buying an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC acquired a new position in Caterpillar during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its position in Caterpillar by 45.5% during the fourth quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 45,759 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $16,600,000 after acquiring an additional 14,316 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in Caterpillar during the fourth quarter worth about $933,000. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in Caterpillar during the fourth quarter worth about $5,148,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on CAT shares. StockNews.com cut shares of Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $365.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price 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. UBS Group upgraded shares of Caterpillar from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $355.00 to $385.00 in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Wedbush raised shares of Caterpillar to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $383.80.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

Shares of CAT stock opened at $335.49 on Friday. Caterpillar Inc. has a one year low of $307.05 and a one year high of $418.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.42. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $358.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $371.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $160.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.15.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.14 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Caterpillar news, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $380.09, for a total transaction of $3,800,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 45,182 shares in the company, valued at $17,173,226.38. The trade was a 18.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gerald Johnson acquired 100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $365.57 per share, with a total value of $36,557.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 3,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,116,085.21. This trade represents a 3.39 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.29% of the stock is owned by 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.