Balboa Wealth Partners Purchases 271 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Balboa Wealth Partners boosted its position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 27.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,246 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 271 shares during the period. Balboa Wealth Partners’ holdings in Caterpillar were worth $452,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 729,654 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $285,382,000 after acquiring an additional 5,371 shares during the last quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd purchased a new position in Caterpillar during the third quarter valued at $630,000. Haverford Trust Co increased its position in Caterpillar by 4.9% in the third quarter. Haverford Trust Co now owns 6,210 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,429,000 after buying an additional 289 shares in the last quarter. Cable Hill Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 24.3% during the 3rd quarter. Cable Hill Partners LLC now owns 2,254 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $882,000 after buying an additional 440 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ROI Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $279,000. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Caterpillar Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of CAT stock opened at $333.26 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $159.28 billion, a PE ratio of 15.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $361.27 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $372.42. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1 year low of $307.05 and a 1 year high of $418.50.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.97 by $0.17. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 58.18% and a net margin of 16.65%. Research analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on CAT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $515.00 to $490.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Wedbush upgraded shares of Caterpillar to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group upgraded Caterpillar from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $355.00 to $385.00 in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com downgraded Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Caterpillar from $330.00 to $300.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Caterpillar presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $383.80.

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In related news, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 45,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,173,226.38. This represents a 18.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,425 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $354.70, for a total value of $860,147.50. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 6,275 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,225,742.50. This trade represents a 27.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

About Caterpillar

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.