Fortitude Family Office LLC Boosts Stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Fortitude Family Office LLC raised its holdings in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 3.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,474 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 51 shares during the period. Fortitude Family Office LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $535,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in Caterpillar by 39,534.0% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,136,667 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $8,356,930,000 after acquiring an additional 2,131,276 shares during the last quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd increased its stake in Caterpillar by 3,319.7% in the 2nd quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 275,011 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $91,606,000 after buying an additional 266,969 shares during the period. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI lifted its holdings in Caterpillar by 4,018.6% during the 3rd quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 255,355 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $99,874,000 after buying an additional 249,155 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Caterpillar by 2.3% during the 3rd 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. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its stake in Caterpillar by 34.4% in the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 782,133 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $305,908,000 after acquiring an additional 200,210 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on CAT. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $435.00 to $460.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com cut Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. UBS Group raised their price target on Caterpillar from $285.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $299.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered shares of Caterpillar from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $321.00 to $365.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $384.33.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

Shares of CAT opened at $360.75 on Friday. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12 month low of $276.94 and a 12 month high of $418.50. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $382.73 and a 200-day moving average price of $365.00. 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 firm has a market cap of $174.17 billion, a PE ratio of 16.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.13.

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

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders 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 1.56%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.15%.

Insider Transactions at Caterpillar

In related news, insider Lange Bob De sold 12,657 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the insider now owns 71,107 shares in the company, valued at $29,171,646.75. This represents a 15.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 968 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,686 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $642,332.28. This represents a 36.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 23,868 shares of company stock worth $9,679,489. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

About Caterpillar

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.