Allstate Corp Invests $5.22 Million in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Allstate Corp bought a new stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 14,393 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $5,221,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. increased its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 13,308 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $4,828,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. DnB Asset Management AS raised its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 23.6% in the 4th quarter. DnB Asset Management AS now owns 1,536 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $557,000 after purchasing an additional 293 shares in the last quarter. Slagle Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Caterpillar by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Slagle Financial LLC now owns 6,858 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,488,000 after buying an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. denkapparat Operations GmbH acquired a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the fourth quarter worth $390,000. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 11.8% in the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 297,376 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $107,876,000 after purchasing an additional 31,268 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on CAT. DA Davidson upped their target price on Caterpillar from $350.00 to $357.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. UBS Group raised shares of Caterpillar from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $355.00 to $385.00 in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $420.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Truist Financial cut their price objective on Caterpillar from $455.00 to $438.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $365.00 to $375.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Caterpillar has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $383.80.

Caterpillar Price Performance

Caterpillar stock traded up $5.29 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $335.86. 551,156 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,532,043. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12 month low of $307.05 and a 12 month high of $418.50. The business's 50-day moving average is $352.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $372.33. 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 $160.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.15.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT - Get Free Report) last issued 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 return on equity of 58.18% and a net margin of 16.65%. Equities research analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,425 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $354.70, for a total transaction of $860,147.50. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 6,275 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,225,742.50. This represents a 27.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $380.09, for a total value of $3,800,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 45,182 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $17,173,226.38. The trade was a 18.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.29% of the company's stock.

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.