Secured Retirement Advisors LLC Raises Stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Secured Retirement Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT - Free Report) by 44.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 11,836 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 3,643 shares during the quarter. Caterpillar comprises 2.5% of Secured Retirement Advisors LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Secured Retirement Advisors LLC's holdings in Caterpillar were worth $4,294,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Creative Planning raised its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 1.7% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 227,915 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $89,142,000 after acquiring an additional 3,772 shares in the last quarter. Bfsg LLC boosted its position in Caterpillar by 15.3% during the third quarter. Bfsg LLC now owns 317 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $124,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. lifted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 16.7% during the third quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 20,594 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $8,055,000 after buying an additional 2,950 shares during the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Caterpillar by 3.4% during the third quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,103 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,996,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldstone Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Caterpillar during the 3rd quarter worth $619,000. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company's stock.

Caterpillar Price Performance

Shares of CAT traded down $0.74 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $353.26. The company had a trading volume of 2,210,863 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,399,368. The company's 50-day moving average is $370.89 and its 200-day moving average is $372.54. Caterpillar Inc. has a twelve month low of $307.05 and a twelve month high of $418.50. The company has a market capitalization of $170.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.12. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.97 by $0.17. Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.65% and a return on equity of 58.18%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.98 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be given a $1.41 dividend. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 21st. Caterpillar's dividend payout ratio is presently 25.56%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on CAT shares. UBS Group raised Caterpillar from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their target price for the company from $355.00 to $385.00 in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $452.00 to $414.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $515.00 to $490.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $455.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Caterpillar from $365.00 to $375.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $383.80.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $380.09, for a total value of $3,800,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 45,182 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,173,226.38. This represents a 18.12 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,425 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $354.70, for a total transaction of $860,147.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 6,275 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,225,742.50. The trade was a 27.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 18,704 shares of company stock valued at $7,226,584 in the last three months. 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.