Sargent Investment Group LLC Has $2.19 Million Stock Position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Sargent Investment Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 14.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,394 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 923 shares during the period. Sargent Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $2,186,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,962,809 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,900,847,000 after acquiring an additional 111,384 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 0.7% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,830,849 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,864,823,000 after buying an additional 47,258 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 14.9% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,038,207 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,648,431,000 after buying an additional 781,111 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in Caterpillar by 28,603.5% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,494,018 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,417,360,000 after buying an additional 1,488,813 shares during the period. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Caterpillar by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,399,888 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $382,168,000 after acquiring an additional 71,344 shares in the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on CAT shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Caterpillar from $357.00 to $408.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded shares of Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $293.00 to $350.00 in a research report on Friday. Evercore ISI cut shares of Caterpillar from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $321.00 to $338.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Caterpillar in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Caterpillar from $385.00 to $435.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $310.83.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

Shares of Caterpillar stock traded up $5.38 during trading on Friday, reaching $343.38. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,324,630 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,414,735. Caterpillar Inc. has a one year low of $204.04 and a one year high of $382.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 1.35. The firm has a market cap of $171.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.17. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $350.10 and its 200-day moving average price is $300.99.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $5.60 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.12 by $0.48. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 58.61% and a net margin of 16.79%. The company had revenue of $15.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.07 billion. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 1.51%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 19th. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.48%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Caterpillar news, insider Lange Bob De sold 21,194 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 61,092 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,886,667.84. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Lange Bob De sold 21,194 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now owns 61,092 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,886,667.84. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.10, for a total transaction of $3,101,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 57,317 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,774,001.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 35,769 shares of company stock worth $11,508,906 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.