Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) Shares Acquired by Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC

Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC boosted its position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 6.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,689 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 108 shares during the quarter. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $613,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 635,750 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $231,686,000 after buying an additional 10,212 shares in the last quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC now owns 116,566 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $45,591,000 after purchasing an additional 6,212 shares in the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI grew its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 43.0% during the 3rd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 13,902 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,437,000 after purchasing an additional 4,181 shares during the period. First Affirmative Financial Network purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the 3rd quarter valued at about $204,000. Finally, Inspire Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 25.8% in the third quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 8,266 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,233,000 after purchasing an additional 1,694 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Trading Up 0.7 %

NYSE CAT traded up $2.65 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $383.20. 522,192 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,864,209. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $185.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.13. The business’s 50 day moving average is $380.24 and its 200-day moving average is $366.36. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12-month low of $277.66 and a 12-month high of $418.50.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its earnings results 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 return on equity of 59.09% and a net margin of 16.26%. The company had revenue of $16.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.37 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $5.52 earnings per share. Caterpillar’s revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

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 issued 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 1.47%. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is 26.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Cheryl H. Johnson sold 2,664 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $378.84, for a total value of $1,009,229.76. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,951 shares in the company, valued at $4,906,356.84. This trade represents a 17.06 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gerald Johnson bought 100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $398.57 per share, with a total value of $39,857.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 2,953 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,176,977.21. This trade represents a 3.51 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 23,868 shares of company stock valued at $9,679,489. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on CAT. Morgan Stanley cut shares of Caterpillar from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $349.00 to $332.00 in a report on Monday, October 14th. Jefferies Financial Group raised 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. UBS Group upped their target price on Caterpillar from $285.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Citigroup cut their price target on Caterpillar from $460.00 to $420.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $380.60.

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.