Covington Investment Advisors Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Covington Investment Advisors Inc. lowered its position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 89.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,475 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 13,070 shares during the quarter. Covington Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $5,349,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of CAT. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted 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 valued at $231,686,000 after purchasing an additional 10,212 shares during the last quarter. West Wealth Group LLC purchased a new stake in Caterpillar in the fourth quarter valued at about $230,000. Cadinha & Co. LLC acquired a new stake in Caterpillar in the fourth quarter worth about $11,084,000. Atomi Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 23,193 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $8,414,000 after acquiring an additional 871 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Copley Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $800,000. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on CAT shares. DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $350.00 to $357.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Caterpillar from $365.00 to $375.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. UBS Group upgraded Caterpillar from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $355.00 to $385.00 in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com cut Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Caterpillar from $515.00 to $490.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research 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 issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $383.80.

Caterpillar Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CAT opened at $339.35 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.42. The firm has a market cap of $162.19 billion, a PE ratio of 15.38, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.15. Caterpillar Inc. has a one year low of $307.05 and a one year high of $418.50. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $356.12 and a 200 day moving average of $372.01.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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, research analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In other news, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 45,182 shares in the company, valued at $17,173,226.38. This trade represents a 18.12 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Gerald Johnson bought 100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $365.57 per share, with a total value of $36,557.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 3,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,116,085.21. The trade was a 3.39 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.