Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) Shares Purchased by Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC

Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 1.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,830 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 214 shares during the period. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $5,380,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the 2nd quarter valued at $36,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in Caterpillar during the 3rd quarter worth about $36,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC increased its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 42.9% in the 3rd quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC now owns 100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. HWG Holdings LP purchased a new stake in Caterpillar during the second quarter worth approximately $54,000. Finally, SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. increased its stake in Caterpillar by 47.2% in the third quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 156 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CAT has been the topic of a number of research reports. Bank of America raised their price target on Caterpillar from $376.00 to $434.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley cut shares of Caterpillar from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $349.00 to $332.00 in a report on Monday, October 14th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Caterpillar from $299.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded Caterpillar from an “underperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $365.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $380.60.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Lange Bob De sold 12,657 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $410.25, for a total value of $5,192,534.25. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 71,107 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,171,646.75. This trade represents a 15.11 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 968 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $380.98, for a total transaction of $368,788.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,686 shares in the company, valued at approximately $642,332.28. This trade represents a 36.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 23,868 shares of company stock valued at $9,679,489 over the last 90 days. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Caterpillar Price Performance

CAT opened at $383.56 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.40. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1-year low of $277.66 and a 1-year high of $418.50. The company has a 50-day moving average of $380.24 and a 200-day moving average of $366.36. The company has a market capitalization of $185.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.84, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.13.

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

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be issued a $1.41 dividend. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 21st. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.