J. W. Coons Advisors LLC Sells 100 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

J. W. Coons Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,480 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 100 shares during the period. J. W. Coons Advisors LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $1,262,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CAT. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI raised its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 4,018.6% in the 3rd quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 255,355 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $99,874,000 after acquiring an additional 249,155 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC raised its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 36,168.5% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 227,041 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $82,361,000 after acquiring an additional 226,415 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Caterpillar by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 8,952,632 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,501,554,000 after buying an additional 205,012 shares during the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its stake in Caterpillar by 34.4% in the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 782,133 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $305,908,000 after buying an additional 200,210 shares during the last quarter. Finally, B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new stake in Caterpillar in the 3rd quarter valued at about $54,997,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on CAT. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $455.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $365.00 to $375.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Wedbush upgraded shares of Caterpillar to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $330.00 to $300.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $299.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $383.80.

Insider Activity

In other Caterpillar news, Director Gerald Johnson bought 100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were bought at an average price of $398.57 per share, for a total transaction of $39,857.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,953 shares in the company, valued at $1,176,977.21. This trade represents a 3.51 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $380.09, for a total transaction of $3,800,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 45,182 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,173,226.38. The trade was a 18.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 18,704 shares of company stock worth $7,226,584. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Caterpillar Stock Down 2.7 %

CAT opened at $339.84 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $368.73 and a 200 day moving average of $372.72. The company has a market cap of $162.42 billion, a PE ratio of 15.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.12. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12 month low of $307.05 and a 12 month high of $418.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.97 by $0.17. Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.65% and a return on equity of 58.18%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st were issued a $1.41 dividend. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, January 21st. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is 25.56%.

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.