Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) Position Boosted by InTrack Investment Management Inc

InTrack Investment Management Inc raised its position in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT - Free Report) by 65.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,808 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,502 shares during the period. InTrack Investment Management Inc's holdings in Caterpillar were worth $1,415,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CAT. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in Caterpillar by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 635,750 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $231,686,000 after purchasing an additional 10,212 shares in the last quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Caterpillar by 5.6% in the third quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC now owns 116,566 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $45,591,000 after acquiring an additional 6,212 shares in the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI raised its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 43.0% in the 3rd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 13,902 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $5,437,000 after acquiring an additional 4,181 shares during the period. First Affirmative Financial Network purchased a new stake in Caterpillar during the 3rd quarter worth $204,000. Finally, Inspire Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Caterpillar by 25.8% in the 3rd quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 8,266 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $3,233,000 after purchasing an additional 1,694 shares in the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Caterpillar

In related news, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 968 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $380.98, for a total value of $368,788.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,686 shares of the company's stock, valued at $642,332.28. This represents a 36.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $380.09, for a total transaction of $3,800,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 45,182 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,173,226.38. The trade was a 18.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 33,868 shares of company stock worth $13,480,389. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on CAT. Bank of America increased their target price on Caterpillar from $376.00 to $434.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $285.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $299.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Evercore ISI upgraded Caterpillar from an "underperform" rating to an "in-line" rating and set a $365.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Caterpillar from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Three research 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's stock. According to MarketBeat, Caterpillar presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $380.60.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

Shares of Caterpillar stock traded up $5.48 on Friday, reaching $386.03. 2,596,820 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,595,788. The firm has a market cap of $186.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.13. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1-year low of $277.66 and a 1-year high of $418.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.40. The company's 50-day moving average is $380.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $367.03.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.33 by ($0.16). The firm had revenue of $16.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.37 billion. Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.26% and a return on equity of 59.09%. The business's revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $5.52 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be issued a dividend of $1.41 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 21st. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.46%. Caterpillar's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.15%.

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.