Kieckhefer Group LLC Acquires New Holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Kieckhefer Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 200 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $73,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CAT. Fairscale Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the 2nd quarter worth about $36,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in Caterpillar during the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC raised 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 valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. HWG Holdings LP bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the 2nd quarter worth $54,000. Finally, SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. lifted its position in Caterpillar by 47.2% during the 3rd quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 156 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Caterpillar Trading Up 2.2 %

CAT traded up $7.68 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $358.68. The stock had a trading volume of 834,947 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,674,488. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $382.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $365.69. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1-year low of $276.94 and a 1-year high of $418.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $173.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.13.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.33 by ($0.16). The firm had revenue of $16.11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.37 billion. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 59.09% and a net margin of 16.26%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $5.52 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be issued a dividend of $1.41 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 21st. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.57%. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is presently 26.15%.

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In other Caterpillar news, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 968 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $380.98, for a total transaction of $368,788.64. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,686 shares in the company, valued at $642,332.28. This trade represents a 36.47 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Cheryl H. Johnson sold 2,664 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $378.84, for a total transaction of $1,009,229.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 12,951 shares in the company, valued at $4,906,356.84. This trade represents a 17.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 23,868 shares of company stock valued at $9,679,489. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CAT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Caterpillar from $299.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $455.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Caterpillar from an “underperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $365.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday. Morgan Stanley cut shares of Caterpillar from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $349.00 to $332.00 in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on Caterpillar from $285.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $384.33.

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.