M.E. Allison & CO. Inc. Takes $306,000 Position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

M.E. Allison & CO. Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 843 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $306,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 valued at $8,356,930,000 after acquiring an additional 2,131,276 shares during the last quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd increased its position in Caterpillar by 3,319.7% during the second quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 275,011 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $91,606,000 after purchasing an additional 266,969 shares during the last quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI raised its stake in Caterpillar by 4,018.6% during the third quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 255,355 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $99,874,000 after purchasing an additional 249,155 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 8,952,632 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $3,501,554,000 after purchasing an additional 205,012 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 200,210 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company's stock.

Caterpillar Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of Caterpillar stock traded up $5.48 on Monday, hitting $386.03. 2,596,820 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,595,788. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33. The firm's 50-day moving average is $380.09 and its 200 day moving average is $367.29. The stock has a market cap of $186.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.90, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.13. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52-week low of $277.66 and a 52-week high of $418.50.

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

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on CAT. Evercore ISI upgraded Caterpillar from an "underperform" rating to an "in-line" rating and set a $365.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. UBS Group increased 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. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $376.00 to $434.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $455.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Caterpillar from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $380.60.

Insider Transactions at Caterpillar

In other news, 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 transaction of $368,788.64. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,686 shares in the company, valued at approximately $642,332.28. This represents a 36.47 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Cheryl H. Johnson sold 2,664 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $378.84, for a total value of $1,009,229.76. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 12,951 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,906,356.84. This represents a 17.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 33,868 shares of company stock worth $13,480,389. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.