Signature Resources Capital Management LLC Takes $271,000 Position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Signature Resources Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 915 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $271,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in CAT. Waterway Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the 4th quarter worth $352,000. Farmers Trust Co. boosted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Farmers Trust Co. now owns 4,490 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,328,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Firethorn Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in Caterpillar by 19.4% during the 4th quarter. Firethorn Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,825 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $540,000 after acquiring an additional 296 shares during the period. Panagora Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Caterpillar by 16.7% during the 3rd quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 367,655 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $100,370,000 after acquiring an additional 52,576 shares during the period. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC lifted its position in Caterpillar by 7.8% during the 4th quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 1,074 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $318,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the period. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Caterpillar

In related news, Director David Maclennan bought 350 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $323.37 per share, for a total transaction of $113,179.50. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 5,238 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,693,812.06. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Caterpillar news, Director David Maclennan acquired 350 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $323.37 per share, for a total transaction of $113,179.50. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 5,238 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,693,812.06. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 4,575 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $329.80, for a total value of $1,508,835.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 23,474 shares in the company, valued at $7,741,725.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on CAT shares. Stifel Nicolaus cut Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $293.00 to $350.00 in a research report on Friday, April 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Caterpillar from $357.00 to $408.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. StockNews.com cut Caterpillar from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Caterpillar in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on Caterpillar from $255.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Caterpillar presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $323.35.

Caterpillar Price Performance

Shares of Caterpillar stock traded up $1.31 on Friday, hitting $336.75. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,977,087 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,750,444. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 1.35. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1 year low of $205.60 and a 1 year high of $382.01. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $351.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $303.33. The company has a market capitalization of $164.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.19.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $5.60 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.12 by $0.48. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 58.61% and a net margin of 16.79%. The company had revenue of $15.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.07 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 22nd will be issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 19th. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.48%.

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.