West Oak Capital LLC Acquires 55 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

West Oak Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,522 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the quarter. West Oak Capital LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $1,313,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BCK Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the 1st quarter worth about $2,580,000. Sei Investments Co. grew its position in shares of Caterpillar by 17.3% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 65,643 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $14,634,000 after purchasing an additional 9,695 shares during the last quarter. Dakota Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the first quarter worth approximately $405,000. Mather Group LLC. lifted its holdings in Caterpillar by 6.8% during the 1st quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 2,592 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $577,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Caterpillar by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 49,705 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $11,075,000 after purchasing an additional 2,076 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Caterpillar from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $285.00 to $293.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 19th. TD Cowen increased their price target on Caterpillar from $300.00 to $338.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Caterpillar from $274.00 to $357.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on Caterpillar from $216.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Caterpillar currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $297.89.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.04, for a total value of $3,000,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 67,317 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,197,792.68. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.04, for a total transaction of $3,000,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 67,317 shares in the company, valued at $20,197,792.68. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director David Maclennan bought 350 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $323.37 per share, for a total transaction of $113,179.50. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 5,238 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,693,812.06. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 45,769 shares of company stock valued at $14,509,306. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Caterpillar Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of CAT stock traded up $0.64 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $365.29. 443,857 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,442,395. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $325.46 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $287.19. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1-year low of $204.04 and a 1-year high of $366.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The company has a market cap of $182.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.16.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The industrial products company reported $5.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.76 by $0.47. The firm had revenue of $17.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.06 billion. Caterpillar had a net margin of 15.41% and a return on equity of 56.99%. The company’s revenue was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.86 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.