BW Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. Purchases Shares of 680 Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

BW Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. purchased a new stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 680 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $390,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Torren Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 220.0% during the 4th quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 48 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. IFS Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Rialto Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 47.4% during the 4th quarter. Rialto Wealth Management LLC now owns 56 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Noble Wealth Management PBC lifted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 140.0% during the 4th quarter. Noble Wealth Management PBC now owns 60 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Williams Trading set a $825.00 target price on shares of Caterpillar in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Daiwa Securities Group lifted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $790.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $650.00 to $845.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $769.00 to $879.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $933.27.

Caterpillar Trading Up 5.2%

Caterpillar stock opened at $910.03 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $814.65 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $705.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $419.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.30, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.59. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52-week low of $344.92 and a 52-week high of $931.35.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.65 by $0.89. The firm had revenue of $17.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.53 billion. Caterpillar had a net margin of 13.33% and a return on equity of 48.21%. Caterpillar’s revenue was up 22.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $4.25 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 24.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 19th. Investors of record on Monday, April 20th were paid a dividend of $1.51 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 20th. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In related news, insider Lange Bob De sold 24,222 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $922.92, for a total transaction of $22,354,968.24. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 86,029 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $79,397,884.68. This represents a 21.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Denise C. Johnson sold 12,605 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $907.91, for a total transaction of $11,444,205.55. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 49,825 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $45,236,615.75. This trade represents a 20.19% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 98,273 shares of company stock valued at $89,439,960. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

About Caterpillar

Caterpillar Inc is a global manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines and locomotives. The company’s product portfolio includes earthmoving machines such as excavators, bulldozers, wheel loaders and off‑highway trucks, as well as a range of power generation products including generator sets and power systems for industrial and commercial use. Caterpillar serves customers across heavy construction, mining, energy, transportation and related industries with both equipment and integrated technology solutions.

In addition to manufacturing, Caterpillar provides a broad range of aftermarket parts and support services, including maintenance, repair, remanufacturing and fleet management tools.