Diversify Wealth Management LLC Boosts Stock Position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Diversify Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 36.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,992 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 535 shares during the quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $699,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Caterpillar by 39,534.0% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,136,667 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $8,356,930,000 after acquiring an additional 2,131,276 shares in the last quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI boosted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 4,018.6% in the 3rd quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 255,355 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $99,874,000 after purchasing an additional 249,155 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Caterpillar by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 8,952,632 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,501,554,000 after buying an additional 205,012 shares during the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its stake in Caterpillar by 34.4% in the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 782,133 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $305,908,000 after buying an additional 200,210 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 10.4% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,108,817 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $702,431,000 after acquiring an additional 198,123 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CAT opened at $398.67 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $192.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $379.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $367.68. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12 month low of $286.10 and a 12 month high of $418.50.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.17 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.33 by ($0.16). The firm 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $5.52 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be issued a $1.41 dividend. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 21st. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.15%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on CAT. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $376.00 to $434.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Caterpillar from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $349.00 to $332.00 in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Caterpillar from $455.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Caterpillar from $299.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Caterpillar from $285.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $380.60.

Insider Activity

In other Caterpillar news, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 968 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $380.98, for a total transaction of $368,788.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,686 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $642,332.28. This trade represents a 36.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Cheryl H. Johnson sold 2,664 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $378.84, for a total value of $1,009,229.76. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 12,951 shares in the company, valued at $4,906,356.84. This represents a 17.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 33,868 shares of company stock worth $13,480,389 over the last ninety days. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Caterpillar 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.