New York Life Investment Management LLC Raises Stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

New York Life Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 0.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 64,962 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 230 shares during the period. New York Life Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $23,566,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of CAT. FSM Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. FSM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 688 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $262,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Allen Capital Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Allen Capital Group LLC now owns 4,247 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,541,000 after buying an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Wagner Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Wagner Wealth Management LLC now owns 668 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $242,000 after buying an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Washington Trust Bank boosted its stake in Caterpillar by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Washington Trust Bank now owns 2,349 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $919,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Channel Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Caterpillar by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Channel Wealth LLC now owns 1,468 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $533,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,425 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 6,275 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,225,742.50. This represents a 27.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $380.09, for a total transaction of $3,800,900.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 45,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,173,226.38. The trade was a 18.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 18,704 shares of company stock valued at $7,226,584. 0.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on CAT. Raymond James upgraded shares of Caterpillar from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price 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. DA Davidson lifted 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. UBS Group upgraded shares of Caterpillar from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $355.00 to $385.00 in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Caterpillar currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $383.80.

Caterpillar Price Performance

NYSE:CAT opened at $342.55 on Thursday. 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 firm has a market cap of $163.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $366.82 and a 200-day moving average price of $372.88. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1-year low of $307.05 and a 1-year high of $418.50.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.14 EPS 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.65%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, January 21st. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is presently 25.56%.

Caterpillar 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.