Global Wealth Strategies & Associates Purchases 134 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Global Wealth Strategies & Associates lifted its position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 81.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 298 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 134 shares during the period. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates’ holdings in Caterpillar were worth $108,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CAT. Fairscale Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the 2nd quarter worth $36,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in Caterpillar in the 3rd quarter worth about $36,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC raised its position in Caterpillar by 42.9% in the 3rd quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC now owns 100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. HWG Holdings LP bought a new position in Caterpillar during the second quarter valued at approximately $54,000. Finally, SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. boosted its holdings in Caterpillar by 47.2% in the third quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 156 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CAT has been the topic of a number of research reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Caterpillar from $455.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com raised Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $299.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $285.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Evercore ISI downgraded shares of Caterpillar from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $321.00 to $365.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $384.33.

Caterpillar Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CAT traded down $2.94 during trading on Thursday, hitting $359.82. 915,078 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,527,875. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $385.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $363.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 0.86. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52-week low of $276.94 and a 52-week high of $418.50. The company has a market cap of $173.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.68, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.10.

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

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be given a dividend of $1.41 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 21st. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.57%. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is 26.15%.

Insider Transactions at Caterpillar

In other news, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 6,279 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $408.59, for a total transaction of $2,565,536.61. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 33,565 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,714,323.35. This represents a 15.76 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 968 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $380.98, for a total value 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 represents a 36.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 23,868 shares of company stock valued at $9,679,489. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.