Whipplewood Advisors LLC Makes New $36,000 Investment in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 99 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $36,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CAT. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 635,750 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $231,686,000 after acquiring an additional 10,212 shares in the last quarter. West Wealth Group LLC bought a new stake in Caterpillar in the fourth quarter worth $230,000. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI lifted its position in Caterpillar by 43.0% during the third quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 13,902 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,437,000 after purchasing an additional 4,181 shares during the last quarter. Cadinha & Co. LLC purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the 4th quarter worth $11,084,000. Finally, Atomi Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 23,193 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $8,414,000 after buying an additional 871 shares during the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on CAT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Caterpillar from $515.00 to $490.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Caterpillar from $330.00 to $300.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. DA Davidson raised their price target on Caterpillar from $350.00 to $357.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Raymond James upgraded shares of Caterpillar from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $383.80.

Caterpillar Trading Up 1.1 %

NYSE:CAT opened at $343.90 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $164.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.58, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.12. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52 week low of $307.05 and a 52 week 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 firm has a 50 day moving average of $365.99 and a 200 day moving average of $372.95.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.14 earnings per share 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 21st were given a $1.41 dividend. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, January 21st. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is currently 25.56%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,425 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was 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 $2,225,742.50. This trade represents a 27.87 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Gerald Johnson purchased 100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $398.57 per share, for a total transaction of $39,857.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 2,953 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,176,977.21. The trade was a 3.51 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.