Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) Shares Purchased by Banque Pictet & Cie SA

Banque Pictet & Cie SA boosted its position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 2,377.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,921 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 13,359 shares during the quarter. Banque Pictet & Cie SA’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $5,050,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. W.H. Cornerstone Investments Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the fourth quarter worth about $458,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 9,008 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,268,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. CFC Planning Co LLC acquired a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the fourth quarter worth about $1,756,000. First Merchants Corp lifted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. First Merchants Corp now owns 14,660 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,318,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Root Financial Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Caterpillar by 20.4% during the fourth quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,974 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $716,000 after acquiring an additional 334 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CAT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Bank of America dropped their target price on Caterpillar from $452.00 to $414.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Caterpillar from $455.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Caterpillar from $515.00 to $490.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. 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. Finally, Evercore ISI raised Caterpillar from an “underperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $365.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $383.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Gerald Johnson purchased 100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were bought at an average price of $365.57 per share, with a total value of $36,557.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 3,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,116,085.21. This represents a 3.39 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 6,279 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $408.59, for a total value of $2,565,536.61. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 33,565 shares in the company, valued at $13,714,323.35. This represents a 15.76 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

Shares of CAT stock opened at $353.31 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. The business has a 50 day moving average of $373.30 and a two-hundred day moving average of $371.69. The company has a market cap of $170.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.01, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.12. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52 week low of $307.05 and a 52 week high of $418.50.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.14 earnings per share (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%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 20.05 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be given a $1.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 21st. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.60%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.56%.

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.