J2 Capital Management Inc Makes New Investment in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

J2 Capital Management Inc acquired a new position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 1,577 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $572,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 39,534.0% during the third 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 buying 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 purchasing an additional 266,969 shares during the period. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI lifted its position in Caterpillar by 4,018.6% in the third quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 255,355 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $99,874,000 after purchasing an additional 249,155 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 2.3% during 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 purchasing an additional 205,012 shares during the period. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 34.4% in the third 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 buying an additional 200,210 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CAT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $376.00 to $434.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Caterpillar from $285.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Evercore ISI upgraded Caterpillar from an "underperform" rating to an "in-line" rating and set a $365.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Caterpillar from $455.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $460.00 to $420.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $380.60.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Caterpillar news, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 968 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $380.98, for a total value of $368,788.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,686 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $642,332.28. The trade was a 36.47 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Cheryl H. Johnson sold 2,664 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $378.84, for a total transaction of $1,009,229.76. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,951 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,906,356.84. The trade was a 17.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 33,868 shares of company stock valued at $13,480,389. Insiders own 0.29% of the company's stock.

Caterpillar Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE CAT traded up $5.48 on Friday, reaching $386.03. 2,596,820 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,595,788. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $380.09 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $367.29. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12 month low of $277.66 and a 12 month high of $418.50. The company has a market cap of $186.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.13.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT - Get Free Report) 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 analysts' consensus estimates of $5.33 by ($0.16). Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.26% and a return on equity of 59.09%. The company had revenue of $16.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $16.37 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.52 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be paid a dividend of $1.41 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 21st. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.46%. Caterpillar's dividend payout ratio is currently 26.15%.

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.