Prudential PLC Sells 1,793 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Prudential PLC lowered its stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 13.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,958 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,793 shares during the period. Prudential PLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $4,338,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of CAT. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in Caterpillar by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 635,750 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $231,686,000 after buying an additional 10,212 shares during the period. West Wealth Group LLC bought a new position in Caterpillar in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $230,000. Cadinha & Co. LLC acquired a new position in Caterpillar during the fourth quarter worth $11,084,000. Atomi Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 23,193 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $8,414,000 after purchasing an additional 871 shares during the period. Finally, Copley Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Caterpillar in the third quarter valued at approximately $800,000. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $420.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Wedbush upgraded shares of Caterpillar to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com downgraded Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Caterpillar from $515.00 to $490.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price objective on Caterpillar from $452.00 to $414.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $383.80.

Caterpillar Stock Down 5.9 %

NYSE CAT opened at $287.57 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $346.83 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $371.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $137.44 billion, a PE ratio of 13.03, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.21. Caterpillar Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $281.50 and a fifty-two week high of $418.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 0.89.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.14 earnings per share 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%. Equities analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,425 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $354.70, for a total transaction of $860,147.50. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 6,275 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,225,742.50. The trade was a 27.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $380.09, for a total transaction of $3,800,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 45,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,173,226.38. This trade represents a 18.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

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.