Clark & Stuart Inc Invests $1.30 Million in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Clark & Stuart Inc bought a new stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 3,584 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,300,000. Caterpillar makes up approximately 1.0% of Clark & Stuart Inc’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest holding.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CAT. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,213,455 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,987,206,000 after purchasing an additional 67,148 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Caterpillar by 2.3% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 8,952,632 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,501,554,000 after buying an additional 205,012 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in Caterpillar by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,862,443 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,286,582,000 after buying an additional 75,973 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted 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 worth $1,418,793,000 after acquiring an additional 64,452 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,227,378 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,262,290,000 after acquiring an additional 8,088 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on CAT. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Caterpillar from $455.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Caterpillar from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $349.00 to $332.00 in a research note on Monday, October 14th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on Caterpillar from $376.00 to $434.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $384.33.

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In other Caterpillar news, Director Daniel M. Dickinson sold 1,300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $418.00, for a total value of $543,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,079,968. This represents a 20.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Gerald Johnson bought 100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were bought at an average price of $398.57 per share, for a total transaction of $39,857.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,953 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,176,977.21. This represents a 3.51 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 23,868 shares of company stock worth $9,679,489 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Trading Down 2.8 %

Shares of CAT stock opened at $351.01 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $169.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33. The business’s 50 day moving average is $382.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $365.69. Caterpillar Inc. has a twelve month low of $276.94 and a twelve month high of $418.50.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.17 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.33 by ($0.16). The firm had revenue of $16.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.37 billion. Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.26% and a return on equity of 59.09%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $5.52 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.68 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be issued a dividend of $1.41 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 21st. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.61%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.15%.

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.