Great Lakes Advisors LLC Acquires 7,160 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Great Lakes Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 2.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 300,906 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,160 shares during the period. Caterpillar accounts for approximately 0.9% of Great Lakes Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 27th largest position. Great Lakes Advisors LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $109,156,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CAT. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Caterpillar in the fourth quarter worth approximately $353,231,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 50,072.7% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 804,770 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $291,938,000 after buying an additional 803,166 shares during the period. Amundi boosted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 17.3% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,166,087 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $782,109,000 after buying an additional 318,891 shares during the period. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI boosted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 4,018.6% during the 3rd quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 255,355 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $99,874,000 after buying an additional 249,155 shares during the period. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC raised its stake in Caterpillar by 36,168.5% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 227,041 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $82,361,000 after purchasing an additional 226,415 shares during the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CAT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $350.00 to $357.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $455.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Caterpillar from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $355.00 to $385.00 in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $452.00 to $414.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $515.00 to $490.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Two equities 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Caterpillar currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $383.80.

Caterpillar Trading Down 1.6 %

CAT stock opened at $339.66 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $362.29 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $372.93. The stock has a market cap of $162.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.15. Caterpillar Inc. has a one year low of $307.05 and a one year high of $418.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 0.89.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.97 by $0.17. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 58.18% and a net margin of 16.65%. Equities analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,425 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $354.70, for a total value of $860,147.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 6,275 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,225,742.50. This represents a 27.87 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Gerald Johnson bought 100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $365.57 per share, with a total value of $36,557.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,053 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,116,085.21. The trade was a 3.39 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

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.