MSH Capital Advisors LLC Acquires New Shares in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

MSH Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 2,074 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $752,000.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CAT. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 46,809,540 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $16,980,629,000 after purchasing an additional 284,366 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Caterpillar by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,449,770 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $3,790,841,000 after acquiring an additional 236,315 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 9,081,775 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $3,294,505,000 after acquiring an additional 129,143 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Caterpillar during the fourth quarter worth $2,184,364,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Caterpillar by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,289,101 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,193,154,000 after acquiring an additional 61,723 shares in the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on CAT. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $430.00 to $320.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Wedbush upgraded Caterpillar to an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Raymond James raised Caterpillar from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley upgraded Caterpillar from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and dropped their price target for the company from $300.00 to $283.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $452.00 to $414.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Caterpillar presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $361.64.

Caterpillar Trading Up 1.3 %

Caterpillar stock traded up $3.68 during trading on Friday, hitting $293.82. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,716,340 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,639,101. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $140.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.21. The stock's fifty day moving average is $327.08 and its 200 day moving average is $363.98. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1-year low of $267.30 and a 1-year high of $418.50.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.97 by $0.17. Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.65% and a return on equity of 58.18%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 21st will be paid a $1.41 dividend. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.92%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 21st. Caterpillar's dividend payout ratio is presently 25.56%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Caterpillar news, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,425 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $354.70, for a total value of $860,147.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,275 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,225,742.50. This represents a 27.87 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Gerald Johnson bought 100 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $365.57 per share, with a total value of $36,557.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,053 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,116,085.21. The trade was a 3.39 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.