Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) Insider Anthony Fassino Sells 6,033 Shares of Stock

Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) insider Anthony Fassino sold 6,033 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $722.15, for a total transaction of $4,356,730.95. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 41,151 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,717,194.65. This trade represents a 12.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Caterpillar Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CAT opened at $742.51 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $347.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.58. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $620.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $532.69. Caterpillar Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $267.30 and a fifty-two week high of $743.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.44.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The industrial products company reported $5.16 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.67 by $0.49. The business had revenue of $19.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.81 billion. Caterpillar had a net margin of 13.14% and a return on equity of 45.76%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 17.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $5.14 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 19th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 20th will be paid a dividend of $1.51 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 20th. This represents a $6.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.09%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on CAT. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Caterpillar in a report on Monday, December 29th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $700.00 to $750.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $708.00 to $735.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Wolfe Research upped their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $470.00 to $670.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 2nd. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Caterpillar from $610.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $690.90.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Caterpillar

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Arista Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Caterpillar by 58.2% in the 4th quarter. Arista Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,283 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $735,000 after acquiring an additional 472 shares during the last quarter. Connecticut Capital Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the fourth quarter valued at $252,000. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,587 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $6,638,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. V. M. Manning & CO. Inc. purchased a new position in Caterpillar in the 4th quarter worth about $278,000. Finally, Smith Chas P & Associates PA Cpas bought a new stake in Caterpillar during the 4th quarter valued at about $984,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% 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.