Orleans Capital Management Corp LA Buys 340 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Orleans Capital Management Corp LA boosted its stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 4.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 7,618 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 340 shares during the quarter. Caterpillar makes up about 1.6% of Orleans Capital Management Corp LA’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest position. Orleans Capital Management Corp LA’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $2,759,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 46,809,540 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $16,980,629,000 after acquiring an additional 284,366 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,449,770 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,790,841,000 after purchasing an additional 236,315 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 acquired a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,184,364,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Caterpillar by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,289,101 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,193,154,000 after buying an additional 61,723 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In related news, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,425 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $354.70, for a total value of $860,147.50. Following the sale, the insider now owns 6,275 shares in the company, valued at $2,225,742.50. This represents a 27.87 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

Shares of Caterpillar stock opened at $305.75 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $349.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $371.61. Caterpillar Inc. has a one year low of $301.26 and a one year high of $418.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $146.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.85, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.15.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.14 earnings per share 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, research analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CAT has been the subject of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $330.00 to $300.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com lowered Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. UBS Group upgraded Caterpillar from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the company from $355.00 to $385.00 in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Bank of America cut their price objective on Caterpillar from $452.00 to $414.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $455.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $383.80.

Caterpillar Company 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.