Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) Holdings Raised by Prosperity Financial Group Inc.

Prosperity Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 13.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,149 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 259 shares during the quarter. Prosperity Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $780,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of CAT. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the 4th quarter valued at $353,231,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 50,072.7% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 804,770 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $291,938,000 after purchasing an additional 803,166 shares in the last quarter. Amundi raised its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 17.3% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,166,087 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $782,109,000 after purchasing an additional 318,891 shares in the last quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI raised its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 4,018.6% during the 3rd quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 255,355 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $99,874,000 after purchasing an additional 249,155 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC grew its stake in Caterpillar by 36,168.5% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 227,041 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $82,361,000 after buying an additional 226,415 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In other Caterpillar news, Director Gerald Johnson purchased 100 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was bought at an average price of $365.57 per share, for a total transaction of $36,557.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,053 shares in the company, valued at $1,116,085.21. This represents a 3.39 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $380.09, for a total transaction of $3,800,900.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 45,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,173,226.38. This represents a 18.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Caterpillar Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of CAT stock opened at $339.66 on Wednesday. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12-month low of $307.05 and a 12-month high of $418.50. The company has a market capitalization of $162.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.15. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $362.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $372.93. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.97 by $0.17. Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.65% and a return on equity of 58.18%. Research analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on CAT. Wedbush upgraded shares of Caterpillar to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $330.00 to $300.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $420.00 to $430.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $455.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $365.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $383.80.

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.