MFA Wealth Services Makes New $639,000 Investment in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

MFA Wealth Services acquired a new position in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 1,761 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $639,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of CAT. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in Caterpillar in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Albion Financial Group UT raised its holdings in Caterpillar by 334.8% during the 4th quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC lifted its holdings in Caterpillar by 42.9% in the third quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC now owns 100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. Finally, Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 130.0% in the 4th quarter. Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC now owns 115 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI raised shares of Caterpillar from an “underperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $365.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Caterpillar from $299.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com lowered shares of Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Morgan Stanley cut Caterpillar from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $349.00 to $332.00 in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $380.60.

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In related news, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 968 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $380.98, for a total transaction of $368,788.64. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Daniel M. Dickinson sold 1,300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $418.00, for a total value of $543,400.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 4,976 shares in the company, valued at $2,079,968. This trade represents a 20.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 33,868 shares of company stock worth $13,480,389 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Stock Up 2.3 %

Shares of CAT stock opened at $406.87 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $196.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.86, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.13. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $380.20 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $368.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52 week low of $288.34 and a 52 week high of $418.50.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.33 by ($0.16). The firm 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $5.52 EPS. Analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be issued a $1.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 21st. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.39%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.15%.

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.