Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. Buys 566 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 5.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,351 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 566 shares during the period. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $3,755,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. United Advisor Group LLC grew its position in Caterpillar by 15.0% during the 3rd quarter. United Advisor Group LLC now owns 949 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $371,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. D.B. Root & Company LLC grew its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 8.8% during the third quarter. D.B. Root & Company LLC now owns 944 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $369,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. M&G PLC increased its position in shares of Caterpillar by 0.8% during the third quarter. M&G PLC now owns 42,988 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $16,808,000 after acquiring an additional 347 shares in the last quarter. Forte Capital LLC ADV raised its holdings in Caterpillar by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Forte Capital LLC ADV now owns 1,744 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $682,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blake Schutter Theil Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Caterpillar during the 3rd quarter valued at $282,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Stock Up 0.7 %

CAT stock opened at $340.89 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $363.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $372.52. The stock has a market cap of $162.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.45, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.12. Caterpillar Inc. has a twelve month low of $307.05 and a twelve month high of $418.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40.

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

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st were issued a dividend of $1.41 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, January 21st. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.65%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.56%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CAT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Caterpillar from $455.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Caterpillar from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the company from $355.00 to $385.00 in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $452.00 to $414.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James upgraded shares of Caterpillar from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $383.80.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 16th. The shares were 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 owns 45,182 shares in the company, valued at $17,173,226.38. This trade represents a 18.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Gerald Johnson bought 100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were bought at an average price of $365.57 per share, with a total value of $36,557.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,116,085.21. The trade was a 3.39 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

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.