Corundum Group Inc. Acquires 2,314 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Corundum Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 70.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,592 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,314 shares during the period. Corundum Group Inc.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $2,029,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the third quarter valued at $36,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in Caterpillar during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Fairscale Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Caterpillar in the 2nd quarter worth about $36,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC lifted its stake in Caterpillar by 42.9% in the third quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC now owns 100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 130.0% during the fourth quarter. Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC now owns 115 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Trading Up 1.4 %

CAT opened at $386.03 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33. The firm has a market cap of $186.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.90, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.13. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12 month low of $277.66 and a 12 month high of $418.50. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $380.09 and a 200-day moving average price of $367.29.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.17 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.33 by ($0.16). Caterpillar had a return on equity of 59.09% and a net margin of 16.26%. The firm had revenue of $16.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.37 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $5.52 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be paid a $1.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 21st. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.46%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.15%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on CAT shares. Bank of America raised their price target on Caterpillar from $376.00 to $434.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Caterpillar from $285.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Caterpillar from an “underperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $365.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Caterpillar from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $349.00 to $332.00 in a report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $380.60.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $380.09, for a total value of $3,800,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 45,182 shares in the company, valued at $17,173,226.38. This trade represents a 18.12 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 968 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $380.98, for a total transaction of $368,788.64. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,686 shares in the company, valued at $642,332.28. The trade was a 36.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 33,868 shares of company stock valued at $13,480,389. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Caterpillar 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.