Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Boosts Holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC increased its holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 4.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 985 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $291,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its holdings in Caterpillar by 20.1% during the fourth quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 1,208,816 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $357,411,000 after purchasing an additional 202,154 shares in the last quarter. Foster & Motley Inc. lifted its holdings in Caterpillar by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Foster & Motley Inc. now owns 16,946 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,010,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. RWA Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Caterpillar by 43.0% during the fourth quarter. RWA Wealth Partners LLC now owns 30,780 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $9,101,000 after purchasing an additional 9,257 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in Caterpillar by 108.1% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 211,953 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $62,668,000 after purchasing an additional 110,108 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Telemus Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Caterpillar by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Telemus Capital LLC now owns 1,801 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $533,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.10, for a total transaction of $3,101,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 57,317 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,774,001.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly 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 can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 57,317 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,774,001.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 35,769 shares of company stock valued at $11,508,906. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Evercore ISI downgraded shares of Caterpillar from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $321.00 to $338.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Caterpillar in a report on Thursday, April 18th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $338.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Caterpillar from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $357.00 to $408.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Caterpillar currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $310.83.

Caterpillar Trading Up 1.6 %

CAT stock opened at $343.37 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. Caterpillar Inc. has a twelve month low of $204.04 and a twelve month high of $382.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $171.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.17. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $350.10 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $300.80.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $5.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.12 by $0.48. Caterpillar had a net margin of 15.41% and a return on equity of 56.99%. The business had revenue of $15.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.07 billion. As a group, analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 22nd will be paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.51%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 19th. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.82%.

Caterpillar Company 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.