SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC Boosts Stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 0.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 9,632 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $3,494,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Caterpillar by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,213,455 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,987,206,000 after purchasing an additional 67,148 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Caterpillar by 2.3% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 8,952,632 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,501,554,000 after acquiring an additional 205,012 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in Caterpillar by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,862,443 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,286,582,000 after buying an additional 75,973 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 1.8% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,627,513 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,418,793,000 after acquiring an additional 64,452 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Caterpillar by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,227,378 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,262,290,000 after purchasing an additional 8,088 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Caterpillar

In other Caterpillar news, insider Lange Bob De sold 12,657 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $410.25, for a total transaction of $5,192,534.25. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 71,107 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,171,646.75. This trade represents a 15.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 6,279 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now owns 33,565 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,714,323.35. This represents a 15.76 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 23,868 shares of company stock valued at $9,679,489. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CAT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Caterpillar from $299.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Bank of America raised their target price on Caterpillar from $376.00 to $434.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $455.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Morgan Stanley downgraded Caterpillar from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $349.00 to $332.00 in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Caterpillar presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $381.67.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

NYSE:CAT opened at $370.79 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.40. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $381.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $366.20. Caterpillar Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $276.94 and a fifty-two week high of $418.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $179.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.19, a PEG ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.13.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.17 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.33 by ($0.16). The business had revenue of $16.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.37 billion. Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.26% and a return on equity of 59.09%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $5.52 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.68 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be paid 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 1.52%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.15%.

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.