Caterpillar Inc. $CAT Holdings Raised by Woodline Partners LP

Woodline Partners LP boosted its holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 39.3% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 40,378 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,384 shares during the quarter. Woodline Partners LP’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $13,317,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Investment Management Corp VA ADV bought a new stake in Caterpillar in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Caterpillar in the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Mattson Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in Caterpillar in the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. Curat Global LLC bought a new stake in Caterpillar in the first quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Caterpillar in the first quarter worth about $33,000. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $383.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Caterpillar from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 29th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Caterpillar from $460.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Caterpillar in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Finally, UBS Group raised Caterpillar from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $272.00 to $357.00 in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $457.20.

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In other Caterpillar news, Director Susan C. Schwab sold 2,324 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $410.00, for a total transaction of $952,840.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 6,917 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,835,970. The trade was a 25.15% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Donald J. Umpleby III sold 17,168 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $412.87, for a total value of $7,088,152.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman directly owned 482,505 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $199,211,839.35. The trade was a 3.44% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 21,653 shares of company stock valued at $8,943,642 in the last 90 days. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Caterpillar Trading Up 1.1%

NYSE:CAT opened at $422.77 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 0.81. Caterpillar Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $267.30 and a fifty-two week high of $441.15. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $418.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $363.91. The stock has a market cap of $198.06 billion, a PE ratio of 21.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.41.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The industrial products company reported $4.72 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.88 by ($0.16). Caterpillar had a net margin of 14.95% and a return on equity of 48.95%. The business had revenue of $16.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.14 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $5.99 EPS. The company’s revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.