Occidental Asset Management LLC Raises Holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Occidental Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 15.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,874 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,175 shares during the period. Occidental Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $2,624,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Caterpillar by 130,632.5% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 9,784,017 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,343,859,000 after purchasing an additional 9,776,533 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 1.6% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,962,809 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,900,847,000 after acquiring an additional 111,384 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 0.7% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,830,849 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,864,823,000 after acquiring an additional 47,258 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 14.9% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,038,207 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,648,431,000 after acquiring an additional 781,111 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 1.7% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,440,783 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $892,724,000 after acquiring an additional 92,360 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CAT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $274.00 to $357.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Caterpillar in a research report on Monday, January 8th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $270.00 target price for the company. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $255.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $210.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $290.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $297.89.

Caterpillar Price Performance

CAT traded up $1.78 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $366.43. 2,028,629 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,158,563. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 0.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $183.00 billion, a PE ratio of 18.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.16. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $325.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $287.19. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1-year low of $204.04 and a 1-year high of $367.22.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 5th. The industrial products company reported $5.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.76 by $0.47. The business had revenue of $17.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.06 billion. Caterpillar had a net margin of 15.41% and a return on equity of 56.99%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.86 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In other Caterpillar news, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.10, for a total transaction of $3,101,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 57,317 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,774,001.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 4,575 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $329.80, for a total value of $1,508,835.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 23,474 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,741,725.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.10, for a total transaction of $3,101,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 57,317 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,774,001.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 45,769 shares of company stock valued at $14,509,306. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.