Greenwood Gearhart Inc. Raises Stock Position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Greenwood Gearhart Inc. grew its position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT - Free Report) by 6.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 33,075 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 1,998 shares during the period. Greenwood Gearhart Inc.'s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $12,935,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and 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% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,136,667 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $8,356,930,000 after purchasing an additional 2,131,276 shares during the last quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd increased its position in shares of Caterpillar by 3,319.7% in the 2nd quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 275,011 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $91,606,000 after acquiring an additional 266,969 shares during the period. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI raised its stake in Caterpillar by 4,018.6% in the 3rd quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 255,355 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $99,874,000 after acquiring an additional 249,155 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position 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 worth $3,501,554,000 after acquiring an additional 205,012 shares during the period. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its stake in Caterpillar by 34.4% during the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 782,133 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $305,908,000 after purchasing an additional 200,210 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In related news, insider Cheryl H. Johnson sold 2,664 shares of the company'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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 12,951 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,906,356.84. This represents a 17.06 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,686 shares in the company, valued at $642,332.28. This trade represents a 36.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 23,868 shares of company stock valued at $9,679,489. 0.29% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on CAT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Caterpillar from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday. Evercore ISI lowered shares of Caterpillar from an "in-line" rating to an "underperform" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $321.00 to $365.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Caterpillar from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Caterpillar from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $349.00 to $332.00 in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $435.00 to $460.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday. Four 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $374.69.

Caterpillar Price Performance

NYSE CAT traded down $10.18 on Tuesday, hitting $389.08. The company had a trading volume of 1,565,230 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,559,110. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The company has a market capitalization of $187.85 billion, a PE ratio of 18.51, a PEG ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.10. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12-month low of $259.12 and a 12-month high of $418.50. The company's fifty day moving average price is $393.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $359.52.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.17 earnings per share 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 analysts' expectations of $16.37 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $5.52 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Investors of record on Monday, October 21st were given a dividend of $1.41 per share. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 21st. Caterpillar's payout ratio is 26.15%.

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.