Dale Q Rice Investment Management Ltd Makes New Investment in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Dale Q Rice Investment Management Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 1,888 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $685,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. PSI Advisors LLC boosted its position in Caterpillar by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. PSI Advisors LLC now owns 2,473 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $897,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Traveka Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 6.2% during the fourth quarter. Traveka Wealth LLC now owns 1,251 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $454,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. BCS Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the fourth quarter valued at $760,000. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC lifted its position in Caterpillar by 409.6% during the fourth quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 22,887 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $8,303,000 after buying an additional 18,396 shares during the period. Finally, Sunflower Bank N.A. grew its holdings in Caterpillar by 10.0% in the 4th quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. now owns 1,271 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $461,000 after buying an additional 116 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on CAT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $299.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley cut shares of Caterpillar from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $349.00 to $332.00 in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Caterpillar from $455.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on Caterpillar from $435.00 to $460.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $384.33.

Caterpillar Stock Up 3.4 %

NYSE CAT opened at $362.82 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33. Caterpillar Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $276.94 and a fifty-two week high of $418.50. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $381.88 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $365.94. The stock has a market cap of $175.17 billion, a PE ratio of 16.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.10.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last announced its earnings results 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). Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.26% and a return on equity of 59.09%. The firm had revenue of $16.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.37 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $5.52 earnings per share. Caterpillar’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be given a dividend of $1.41 per share. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.55%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 21st. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is 26.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 968 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $380.98, for a total transaction of $368,788.64. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,686 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $642,332.28. This trade represents a 36.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gerald Johnson purchased 100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $398.57 per share, with a total value of $39,857.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 2,953 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,176,977.21. This represents a 3.51 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 23,868 shares of company stock worth $9,679,489. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Caterpillar Company 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.