Connors Investor Services Inc. Acquires New Position in Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Connors Investor Services Inc. bought a new position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 27,697 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,216,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CAT. Opes Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 0.5% in the third quarter. Opes Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,979 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,376,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the period. Trust Investment Advisors increased its holdings in Caterpillar by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Trust Investment Advisors now owns 6,465 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,085,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its holdings in Caterpillar by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 42,305 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $20,186,000 after purchasing an additional 1,279 shares during the period. Burkett Financial Services LLC raised its position in Caterpillar by 82.9% during the 3rd quarter. Burkett Financial Services LLC now owns 75 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the 3rd quarter worth $30,871,000. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Lange Bob De sold 22,656 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $720.11, for a total transaction of $16,314,812.16. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 79,953 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $57,574,954.83. This represents a 22.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $575.06, for a total transaction of $5,750,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 45,460 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,142,227.60. This trade represents a 18.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 135,950 shares of company stock worth $94,327,990 over the last 90 days. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on CAT. Williams Trading set a $825.00 price target on Caterpillar in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Rothschild & Co Redburn increased their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Wolfe Research boosted their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $470.00 to $670.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $765.00 to $860.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Caterpillar currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $730.50.

Caterpillar Price Performance

Shares of CAT stock opened at $703.53 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $697.19 and its 200 day moving average is $589.94. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1-year low of $267.30 and a 1-year high of $789.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The company has a market cap of $327.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.38, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.54.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The industrial products company reported $5.16 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.67 by $0.49. Caterpillar had a net margin of 13.14% and a return on equity of 45.76%. The business had revenue of $19.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.81 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $5.14 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 17.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Company Profile

Caterpillar Inc is a global manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines and locomotives. The company’s product portfolio includes earthmoving machines such as excavators, bulldozers, wheel loaders and off‑highway trucks, as well as a range of power generation products including generator sets and power systems for industrial and commercial use. Caterpillar serves customers across heavy construction, mining, energy, transportation and related industries with both equipment and integrated technology solutions.

In addition to manufacturing, Caterpillar provides a broad range of aftermarket parts and support services, including maintenance, repair, remanufacturing and fleet management tools.