Little House Capital LLC Grows Stake in Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Little House Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 41.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 8,873 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,601 shares during the quarter. Little House Capital LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $4,234,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Marquette Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 1,060.0% in the 3rd quarter. Marquette Asset Management LLC now owns 58 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. Joseph Group Capital Management purchased a new stake in Caterpillar during the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Kilter Group LLC bought a new position in Caterpillar in the second quarter worth approximately $27,000. Mid American Wealth Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. 70.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In other news, insider Lange Bob De sold 14,638 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $562.36, for a total value of $8,231,825.68. Following the sale, the insider owned 80,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $45,106,333.24. This represents a 15.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 8,184 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $570.18, for a total transaction of $4,666,353.12. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 41,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,669,312.16. This represents a 16.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 54,729 shares of company stock worth $31,084,308 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on CAT. Rothschild & Co Redburn lifted their target price on Caterpillar from $420.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Wolfe Research boosted their price objective on Caterpillar from $470.00 to $670.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 2nd. HSBC raised shares of Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $405.00 to $660.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $730.00 to $740.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, Raymond James Financial restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Caterpillar in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $640.20.

Caterpillar Price Performance

Caterpillar stock opened at $639.03 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $598.01 and its 200 day moving average is $515.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34. The company has a market cap of $299.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.80, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.57. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52-week low of $267.30 and a 52-week high of $655.78.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 3rd. The industrial products company reported $4.95 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.52 by $0.43. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 47.16% and a net margin of 14.34%.The company had revenue of $17.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.72 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $5.17 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 19th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 20th will be given a dividend of $1.51 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 20th. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is currently 31.01%.

About Caterpillar

Caterpillar Inc is a global manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines and locomotives. The company’s product portfolio includes earthmoving machines such as excavators, bulldozers, wheel loaders and off‑highway trucks, as well as a range of power generation products including generator sets and power systems for industrial and commercial use. Caterpillar serves customers across heavy construction, mining, energy, transportation and related industries with both equipment and integrated technology solutions.

In addition to manufacturing, Caterpillar provides a broad range of aftermarket parts and support services, including maintenance, repair, remanufacturing and fleet management tools.