Slagle Financial LLC Buys 260 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Slagle Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 3.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 6,858 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 260 shares during the period. Slagle Financial LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $2,488,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. denkapparat Operations GmbH purchased a new stake in Caterpillar in the fourth quarter worth about $390,000. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 11.8% in the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 297,376 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $107,876,000 after buying an additional 31,268 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 302,950 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $109,898,000 after buying an additional 16,944 shares during the period. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Caterpillar during the 4th quarter valued at about $10,068,000. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the fourth quarter worth $2,184,364,000. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on CAT. StockNews.com lowered shares of Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $420.00 to $430.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. DA Davidson increased their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $350.00 to $357.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Bank of America reduced their price target on Caterpillar from $452.00 to $414.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Caterpillar from $515.00 to $490.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $383.80.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Gerald Johnson bought 100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $365.57 per share, with a total value of $36,557.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,116,085.21. This represents a 3.39 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,425 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,275 shares in the company, valued at $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. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE CAT opened at $339.35 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $162.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $356.12 and a 200-day simple moving average of $372.01. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12 month low of $307.05 and a 12 month high of $418.50.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.14 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%. Sell-side analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current year.

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.