Lafayette Investments Inc. Increases Stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Lafayette Investments Inc. increased its stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 19.7% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,736 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 286 shares during the quarter. Lafayette Investments Inc.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $630,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Caterpillar by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 729,654 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $285,382,000 after purchasing an additional 5,371 shares during the period. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. increased its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 47.2% during the third quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 156 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Tudor Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the third quarter worth approximately $854,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 13,317 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,208,000 after purchasing an additional 376 shares in the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Caterpillar by 26.6% in the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,012 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,569,000 after buying an additional 843 shares during the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In other news, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $380.09, for a total value of $3,800,900.00. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,425 shares of the firm’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 transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of CAT opened at $298.07 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $142.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.21. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12-month low of $267.30 and a 12-month high of $418.50. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $332.75 and a 200-day moving average price of $366.35. 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 (NYSE:CAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.14 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%. Equities research analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 21st will be given a dividend of $1.41 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 21st. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.89%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.56%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CAT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Caterpillar from $330.00 to $300.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $452.00 to $414.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup lowered their price target on Caterpillar from $430.00 to $320.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $350.00 to $357.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Raymond James upgraded Caterpillar from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $365.87.

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.