Slagle Financial LLC Boosts Stock Position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Slagle Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 3.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,858 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 260 shares during the period. Slagle Financial LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $2,488,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the 4th quarter valued at $2,184,364,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the 4th quarter valued at about $353,231,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in Caterpillar by 50,072.7% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 804,770 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $291,938,000 after buying an additional 803,166 shares during the period. Amundi boosted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 17.3% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,166,087 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $782,109,000 after buying an additional 318,891 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Caterpillar by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 46,809,540 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $16,980,629,000 after buying an additional 284,366 shares in the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Caterpillar Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of CAT stock opened at $339.35 on Friday. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52 week low of $307.05 and a 52 week high of $418.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $356.12 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $372.01. The stock has a market cap of $162.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.38, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.15.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.97 by $0.17. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 58.18% and a net margin of 16.65%. Analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CAT has been the topic of a number of research reports. UBS Group upgraded shares of Caterpillar from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $355.00 to $385.00 in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com downgraded Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Caterpillar from $365.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Caterpillar from $515.00 to $490.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Wedbush raised shares of Caterpillar to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $383.80.

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.