Financial Enhancement Group LLC Makes New Investment in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Financial Enhancement Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 745 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $270,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in Caterpillar in the 2nd quarter valued at $2,733,000. One Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Caterpillar by 173.0% in the 2nd quarter. One Capital Management LLC now owns 1,665 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $555,000 after purchasing an additional 1,055 shares during the period. Financial & Tax Architects LLC boosted its stake in Caterpillar by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Financial & Tax Architects LLC now owns 18,074 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $6,020,000 after purchasing an additional 229 shares during the period. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Caterpillar by 301.4% in the 2nd quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. now owns 3,091 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,030,000 after purchasing an additional 2,321 shares during the period. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its stake in Caterpillar by 33.7% in the 2nd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 133,013 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $43,194,000 after purchasing an additional 33,505 shares during the period. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CAT has been the subject of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Caterpillar from $455.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Evercore ISI raised 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. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Caterpillar from $460.00 to $420.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Caterpillar from $299.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut Caterpillar from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $349.00 to $332.00 in a report on Monday, October 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $380.60.

Caterpillar Price Performance

CAT traded up $5.96 on Thursday, reaching $380.85. The stock had a trading volume of 1,972,960 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,003,175. Caterpillar Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $276.94 and a fifty-two week high of $418.50. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $380.79 and a 200-day moving average of $366.26. 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 company has a market capitalization of $183.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.13.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.17 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.37 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $5.52 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.68 EPS for the current 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 given a $1.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 21st. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.48%. Caterpillar's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In other Caterpillar news, Director Gerald Johnson bought 100 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were bought at an average price of $398.57 per share, for a total transaction of $39,857.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,953 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,176,977.21. This trade represents a 3.51 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 968 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $642,332.28. The trade was a 36.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 23,868 shares of company stock worth $9,679,489. 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.