SlateStone Wealth LLC Buys 1,662 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

SlateStone Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 8.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,933 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 1,662 shares during the quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $6,485,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc now owns 2,234 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $661,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA boosted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 9.0% in the fourth quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA now owns 1,063 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $319,000 after buying an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,341 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $396,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Aspire Private Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. Aspire Private Capital LLC now owns 2,669 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $789,000 after buying an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wedge Capital Management L L P NC boosted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 985 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $291,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.04, for a total transaction of $3,000,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 67,317 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,197,792.68. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Caterpillar news, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.04, for a total transaction of $3,000,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 67,317 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,197,792.68. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Lange Bob De sold 21,194 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $325.52, for a total transaction of $6,899,070.88. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 61,092 shares in the company, valued at $19,886,667.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 45,769 shares of company stock valued at $14,509,306. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Caterpillar Trading Down 0.1 %

CAT stock opened at $363.06 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. Caterpillar Inc. has a twelve month low of $204.04 and a twelve month high of $382.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $181.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.17. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $348.44 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $299.59.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 5th. The industrial products company reported $5.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.76 by $0.47. The business had revenue of $17.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.06 billion. Caterpillar had a net margin of 15.41% and a return on equity of 56.99%. The business’s revenue was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.86 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 22nd will be paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 19th. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.82%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on CAT. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Caterpillar in a report on Monday, January 8th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $270.00 price target on the stock. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Caterpillar in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $255.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Evercore ISI downgraded shares of Caterpillar from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $321.00 to $338.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Caterpillar from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Caterpillar has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $307.56.

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.