Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC Grows Position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 0.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,424 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $6,334,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. BCK Partners Inc. acquired a new position in Caterpillar in the 1st quarter valued at about $2,580,000. Sei Investments Co. grew its position in Caterpillar by 17.3% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 65,643 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $14,634,000 after acquiring an additional 9,695 shares in the last quarter. Dakota Wealth Management acquired a new position in Caterpillar in the 1st quarter valued at about $405,000. Mather Group LLC. grew its position in Caterpillar by 6.8% in the 1st quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 2,592 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $577,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its position in Caterpillar by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 49,705 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $11,075,000 after acquiring an additional 2,076 shares in the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In related news, Director David Maclennan bought 350 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $323.37 per share, with a total value of $113,179.50. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 5,238 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,693,812.06. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, Director David Maclennan bought 350 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $323.37 per share, with a total value of $113,179.50. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 5,238 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,693,812.06. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Lange Bob De sold 21,194 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $325.52, for a total value of $6,899,070.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 61,092 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,886,667.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 45,769 shares of company stock worth $14,509,306. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on Caterpillar from $216.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 21st. StockNews.com downgraded Caterpillar from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Caterpillar from $290.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Evercore ISI downgraded Caterpillar from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $321.00 to $338.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Caterpillar in a research report on Monday, January 8th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $270.00 price objective for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $307.56.

Caterpillar Stock Down 0.7 %

CAT stock traded down $2.32 during trading on Friday, hitting $354.31. 1,451,086 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,421,012. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $345.95 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $297.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $176.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.77, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.17. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52-week low of $204.04 and a 52-week high of $382.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 5th. The industrial products company reported $5.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.76 by $0.47. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 56.99% and a net margin of 15.41%. The company had revenue of $17.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.06 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.86 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.4 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 22nd will be paid a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.47%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 19th. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.82%.

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.