Brooklyn Investment Group Increases Holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Brooklyn Investment Group raised its stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 3.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,872 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 87 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $1,042,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Caterpillar by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,247 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $815,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of Caterpillar by 30.7% during the 4th quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 20,178 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $7,320,000 after acquiring an additional 4,737 shares during the period. Chemistry Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Caterpillar by 43.2% during the 4th quarter. Chemistry Wealth Management LLC now owns 891 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $323,000 after acquiring an additional 269 shares during the period. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC grew its position in shares of Caterpillar by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC now owns 1,689 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $613,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares during the period. Finally, CNB Bank grew its position in shares of Caterpillar by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. CNB Bank now owns 5,921 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,148,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares during the period. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on CAT shares. Evercore ISI raised shares of Caterpillar from an “underperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $365.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. 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 research report on Tuesday. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $285.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $455.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $299.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $380.60.

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In other Caterpillar news, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 968 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 1,686 shares in the company, valued at $642,332.28. This trade represents a 36.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 firm’s 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 directly owns 45,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,173,226.38. This represents a 18.12 % decrease in their position. 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 three months. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Price Performance

Shares of CAT stock opened at $386.03 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The company has a market capitalization of $186.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.13. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $380.09 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $366.76. Caterpillar Inc. has a one year low of $277.66 and a one year high of $418.50.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.33 by ($0.16). Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.26% and a return on equity of 59.09%. The business had revenue of $16.11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.37 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $5.52 earnings per share. Caterpillar’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.68 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be paid a $1.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 21st. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.46%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.15%.

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.