Sandhill Capital Partners LLC Sells 79 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Sandhill Capital Partners LLC lessened its position in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 15,978 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 79 shares during the period. Sandhill Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $5,796,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Caterpillar by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 46,809,540 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $16,980,629,000 after purchasing an additional 284,366 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,449,770 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,790,841,000 after acquiring an additional 236,315 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Caterpillar by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 9,081,775 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,294,505,000 after purchasing an additional 129,143 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,184,364,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Caterpillar by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,289,101 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,193,154,000 after acquiring an additional 61,723 shares during the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,425 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $354.70, for a total transaction of $860,147.50. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 6,275 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,225,742.50. This represents a 27.87 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $380.09, for a total transaction of $3,800,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 45,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,173,226.38. This trade represents a 18.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Caterpillar from $365.00 to $375.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Raymond James raised Caterpillar from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $420.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $515.00 to $490.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $383.80.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

CAT opened at $279.24 on Tuesday. 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 Inc. has a 12-month low of $267.30 and a 12-month high of $418.50. The company has a market cap of $133.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.65, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.21. The company’s 50 day moving average is $344.52 and its 200 day moving average is $370.76.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.14 EPS 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%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current year.

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.