BNP Paribas Cuts Stock Holdings in Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

BNP Paribas reduced its stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 81.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,686 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 25,238 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas’ holdings in Caterpillar were worth $2,604,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Caterpillar during the second quarter worth about $2,165,899,000. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its position in Caterpillar by 7.3% in the third quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 17,262 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $8,237,000 after acquiring an additional 1,181 shares during the period. Groupe la Francaise boosted its stake in Caterpillar by 82.0% in the second quarter. Groupe la Francaise now owns 27,246 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $10,820,000 after acquiring an additional 12,278 shares during the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA grew its position in shares of Caterpillar by 155.9% during the 3rd quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA now owns 47,231 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $21,014,000 after acquiring an additional 28,773 shares during the period. Finally, Caprock Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $8,893,000. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Rothschild & Co Redburn upped their price objective on Caterpillar from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Daiwa Securities Group raised their target price on Caterpillar from $640.00 to $790.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Caterpillar from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. HSBC increased their price target on Caterpillar from $660.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on Caterpillar from $587.00 to $658.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $730.50.

Caterpillar Trading Down 1.0%

NYSE:CAT opened at $693.89 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $322.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.53. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $693.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $586.07. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1 year low of $267.30 and a 1 year high of $789.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 0.94.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In other Caterpillar news, CEO Joseph E. Creed sold 2,500 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $718.93, for a total transaction of $1,797,325.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 35,083 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,222,221.19. The trade was a 6.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Lange Bob De sold 22,656 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $720.11, for a total transaction of $16,314,812.16. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 79,953 shares in the company, valued at approximately $57,574,954.83. The trade was a 22.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 135,950 shares of company stock worth $94,327,990. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Caterpillar Company Profile

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.