Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC Increases Stock Position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 9.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,208 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 106 shares during the quarter. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $438,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in Caterpillar by 1.6% in the fourth 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. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC now owns 116,566 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $45,591,000 after buying an additional 6,212 shares during the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI grew its position in shares of 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 worth $5,437,000 after buying an additional 4,181 shares in the last quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network acquired a new stake in Caterpillar in the third quarter valued at $204,000. Finally, Inspire Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Caterpillar by 25.8% during the 3rd quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 8,266 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,233,000 after acquiring an additional 1,694 shares during the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on CAT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Caterpillar from $299.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Citigroup dropped their price target on Caterpillar from $460.00 to $420.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Caterpillar from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $349.00 to $332.00 in a report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $380.60.

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In other news, insider Cheryl H. Johnson sold 2,664 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $378.84, for a total value of $1,009,229.76. Following the sale, the insider now owns 12,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,906,356.84. The trade was a 17.06 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The shares were 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 $17,173,226.38. This represents a 18.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 33,868 shares of company stock worth $13,480,389 over the last quarter. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

Shares of CAT stock opened at $386.03 on Friday. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12-month low of $277.66 and a 12-month high of $418.50. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $186.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.13. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $380.09 and a 200 day simple moving average of $367.03.

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

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

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