Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) Shares Purchased by AlphaQuest LLC

AlphaQuest LLC raised its position in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 196.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,733 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 1,149 shares during the quarter. AlphaQuest LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $629,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Argentarii LLC acquired a new stake in Caterpillar during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $232,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in Caterpillar during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,839,000. Coordinated Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Caterpillar during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $234,000. United Community Bank raised its position in shares of Caterpillar by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. United Community Bank now owns 7,671 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,783,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 318,891 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Caterpillar from $515.00 to $490.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Caterpillar from $330.00 to $300.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Truist Financial dropped their price target on Caterpillar from $455.00 to $438.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Caterpillar from $365.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Caterpillar from $455.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $383.80.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CAT opened at $339.66 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $362.29 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $372.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.42. The firm has a market cap of $162.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.39, a PEG 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.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In other news, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 45,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,173,226.38. This trade represents a 18.12 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,425 shares of the firm’s 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 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.