Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) Holdings Raised by Cadence Bank

Cadence Bank boosted its position in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 99.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 2,114 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,055 shares during the period. Cadence Bank’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $767,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in CAT. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the 4th quarter valued at $2,184,364,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $353,231,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Caterpillar by 50,072.7% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 804,770 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $291,938,000 after purchasing an additional 803,166 shares during the period. APG Asset Management N.V. raised its holdings in Caterpillar by 1,278.6% in the 4th quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 440,641 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $154,367,000 after acquiring an additional 408,678 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi grew its position in shares of Caterpillar by 17.3% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 2,166,087 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $782,109,000 after purchasing an additional 318,891 shares during the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Caterpillar Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of Caterpillar stock opened at $293.82 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $140.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.21. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12-month low of $267.30 and a 12-month high of $418.50. 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 company has a 50-day simple moving average of $327.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $363.98.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.14 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. Research analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 21st will be paid a $1.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 21st. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.92%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.56%.

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In other news, Director Gerald Johnson bought 100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was bought at an average price of $365.57 per share, for a total transaction of $36,557.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,053 shares in the company, valued at $1,116,085.21. The trade was a 3.39 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 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 value of $860,147.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 6,275 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,225,742.50. This represents a 27.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on CAT. UBS Group raised Caterpillar from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $355.00 to $385.00 in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $490.00 to $380.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Raymond James raised shares of Caterpillar from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report 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, Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Caterpillar from $365.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Caterpillar presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $361.64.

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.