Geode Capital Management LLC Acquires 236,315 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 2.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,449,770 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 236,315 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC owned 2.16% of Caterpillar worth $3,790,841,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Caterpillar in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,184,364,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the 4th quarter worth approximately $353,231,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 worth $291,938,000 after acquiring an additional 803,166 shares in the last quarter. Amundi increased its stake in Caterpillar by 17.3% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 2,166,087 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $782,109,000 after acquiring an additional 318,891 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Caterpillar by 0.6% during 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 purchasing an additional 284,366 shares in the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on CAT. Raymond James upgraded Caterpillar from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Wedbush raised shares of Caterpillar to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $515.00 to $490.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $330.00 to $300.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $350.00 to $357.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $383.80.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

Shares of CAT stock opened at $330.14 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $157.78 billion, a PE ratio of 14.96, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.15. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $353.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $372.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 0.89. Caterpillar Inc. has a one year low of $307.05 and a one year high of $418.50.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.97 by $0.17. Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.65% and a return on equity of 58.18%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Caterpillar

In related news, Director Gerald Johnson acquired 100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $365.57 per share, for a total transaction of $36,557.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 3,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,116,085.21. This trade represents a 3.39 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,425 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $354.70, for a total value of $860,147.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 6,275 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,225,742.50. This represents a 27.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Company 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.