Oakworth Capital Inc. Buys 900 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Oakworth Capital Inc. grew its stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 72.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,135 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 900 shares during the period. Oakworth Capital Inc.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $631,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Waterway Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the 4th quarter worth approximately $352,000. Farmers Trust Co. grew its stake in Caterpillar by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Farmers Trust Co. now owns 4,490 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,328,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the period. Firethorn Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in Caterpillar by 19.4% in the fourth quarter. Firethorn Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,825 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $540,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Caterpillar by 16.7% during the third quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 367,655 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $100,370,000 after buying an additional 52,576 shares during the period. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 7.8% during the 4th quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 1,074 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $318,000 after buying an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on CAT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $385.00 to $435.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $255.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. StockNews.com downgraded Caterpillar from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on Caterpillar in a research note on Monday, January 8th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $270.00 price objective for the company. Finally, TD Cowen increased their target price on Caterpillar from $300.00 to $338.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $307.56.

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In other news, insider Lange Bob De sold 21,194 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $325.52, for a total value of $6,899,070.88. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 61,092 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,886,667.84. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, insider Lange Bob De sold 21,194 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $325.52, for a total value of $6,899,070.88. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 61,092 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,886,667.84. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director David Maclennan purchased 350 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $323.37 per share, with a total value of $113,179.50. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 5,238 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,693,812.06. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 45,769 shares of company stock worth $14,509,306 in the last three months. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CAT traded down $1.86 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $358.02. 1,713,405 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,426,446. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $344.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $296.35. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52-week low of $204.04 and a 52-week high of $382.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $178.80 billion, a PE ratio of 17.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.17.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last posted its earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The industrial products company reported $5.23 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.76 by $0.47. The business had revenue of $17.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.06 billion. Caterpillar had a net margin of 15.41% and a return on equity of 56.99%. The firm’s revenue was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.86 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 22nd will be issued a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 19th. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is 25.82%.

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.