Hoey Investments Inc. Increases Stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Hoey Investments Inc. increased its stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT - Free Report) by 143.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,193 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 1,291 shares during the period. Hoey Investments Inc.'s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $796,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in CAT. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 548,251 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $198,884,000 after buying an additional 5,248 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 223.1% in the fourth quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 252 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $91,000 after buying an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. AIA Group Ltd grew its stake in Caterpillar by 14.2% during the fourth quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 37,312 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $13,535,000 after acquiring an additional 4,643 shares in the last quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. increased its holdings in Caterpillar by 9.5% during the 4th quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 3,460 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,258,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Caterpillar by 72.2% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 88,936 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $32,262,000 after purchasing an additional 37,282 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company's stock.

Caterpillar Stock Down 4.6 %

CAT stock traded down $14.02 during trading on Friday, hitting $291.74. 3,281,273 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,542,694. The firm's 50 day moving average is $349.24 and its two-hundred day moving average is $371.61. The stock has a market cap of $139.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.15. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1 year low of $281.50 and a 1 year high of $418.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 0.89.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.14 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%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 45,182 shares in the company, valued at $17,173,226.38. This represents a 18.12 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,425 shares of Caterpillar 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,275 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,225,742.50. The trade was a 27.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CAT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com cut Caterpillar from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Bank of America dropped their target price on Caterpillar from $452.00 to $414.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group upgraded Caterpillar from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $355.00 to $385.00 in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $330.00 to $300.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $515.00 to $490.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $383.80.

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.