HighTower Advisors LLC Increases Position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

HighTower Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 30.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 653,925 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 150,905 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $237,218,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in CAT. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Caterpillar in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Caterpillar during the fourth quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Kimelman & Baird LLC lifted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 42.9% in the third quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC now owns 100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on CAT shares. DA Davidson raised their price target on Caterpillar from $350.00 to $357.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Citigroup upped their price target on Caterpillar from $420.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Caterpillar from $330.00 to $300.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Caterpillar from $515.00 to $490.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Bank of America cut their target price on Caterpillar from $452.00 to $414.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $383.80.

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In other Caterpillar news, Director Gerald Johnson purchased 100 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was bought at an average price of $365.57 per share, with a total value of $36,557.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 3,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,116,085.21. This represents a 3.39 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $380.09, for a total value 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 represents a 18.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

CAT opened at $339.66 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $362.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $372.93. The company has a market capitalization of $162.33 billion, a PE ratio of 15.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.15. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1 year low of $307.05 and a 1 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.97 by $0.17. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 58.18% and a net margin of 16.65%. Research analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current year.

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.