Purkiss Capital Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Purkiss Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 714 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $259,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in Caterpillar by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 635,750 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $231,686,000 after buying an additional 10,212 shares in the last quarter. West Wealth Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the 4th quarter worth approximately $230,000. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI grew its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 43.0% in 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 acquiring an additional 4,181 shares during the period. Cadinha & Co. LLC purchased a new position in Caterpillar in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $11,084,000. Finally, Atomi Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Caterpillar by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 23,193 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $8,414,000 after purchasing an additional 871 shares during the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In other Caterpillar news, 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,275 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,225,742.50. The trade was a 27.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gerald Johnson acquired 100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $365.57 per share, with a total value of $36,557.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 3,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,116,085.21. This trade represents a 3.39 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Caterpillar Stock Up 1.1 %

CAT opened at $343.90 on Friday. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12 month low of $307.05 and a 12 month high of $418.50. The business has a 50-day moving average of $365.99 and a two-hundred day moving average of $372.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $164.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.12.

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

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 21st were issued a $1.41 dividend. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.64%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, January 21st. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is currently 25.56%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on CAT shares. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Caterpillar from $330.00 to $300.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group upgraded shares of Caterpillar from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the company from $355.00 to $385.00 in a report on Monday, February 3rd. DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $350.00 to $357.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $420.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Caterpillar from $455.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $383.80.

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.