Stonegate Investment Group LLC Has $2.93 Million Holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Stonegate Investment Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 22.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,063 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,491 shares during the quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $2,925,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of CAT. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Caterpillar by 39,534.0% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,136,667 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $8,356,930,000 after buying an additional 2,131,276 shares during the last quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI lifted its holdings in Caterpillar by 4,018.6% during 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 purchasing an additional 249,155 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted 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 purchasing an additional 205,012 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its position in Caterpillar by 34.4% during the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 782,133 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $305,908,000 after buying an additional 200,210 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 106.2% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 317,828 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $124,309,000 after acquiring an additional 163,725 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

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 value of $368,788.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,686 shares in the company, valued at $642,332.28. This represents a 36.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Lange Bob De sold 12,657 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $410.25, for a total transaction of $5,192,534.25. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 71,107 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,171,646.75. This trade represents a 15.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 33,868 shares of company stock worth $13,480,389 over the last quarter. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CAT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $460.00 to $420.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Caterpillar from $455.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. UBS Group upped their target price on Caterpillar from $285.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Caterpillar from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised shares of Caterpillar from an “underperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $365.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $380.60.

Caterpillar Stock Down 3.2 %

Caterpillar stock opened at $394.60 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $381.07 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $369.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.40. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52-week low of $297.45 and a 52-week high of $418.50. The firm has a market cap of $190.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.29, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.13.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.17 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.33 by ($0.16). Caterpillar had a return on equity of 59.09% and a net margin of 16.26%. The company had revenue of $16.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.37 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $5.52 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.69 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be issued a $1.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 21st. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.43%. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is currently 26.15%.

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.