Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Increases Stock Holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI grew its position in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 37.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 19,097 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,195 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $6,928,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Caterpillar during the fourth quarter worth about $353,231,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in Caterpillar by 50,072.7% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 804,770 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $291,938,000 after buying an additional 803,166 shares during the last quarter. Amundi grew its position in Caterpillar by 17.3% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 2,166,087 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $782,109,000 after acquiring an additional 318,891 shares during the last quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI raised its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 4,018.6% during the third quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 255,355 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $99,874,000 after acquiring an additional 249,155 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 226,415 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on CAT shares. Citigroup raised their price objective on Caterpillar from $420.00 to $430.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $365.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $455.00 to $438.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $350.00 to $357.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Wedbush upgraded Caterpillar to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Caterpillar presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $383.80.

Caterpillar Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of Caterpillar stock opened at $339.66 on Wednesday. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1 year low of $307.05 and a 1 year high of $418.50. The firm has a market cap of $162.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.39, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a 50-day moving average of $362.29 and a 200 day moving average of $372.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 0.89.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In related news, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $380.09, for a total transaction of $3,800,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 45,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,173,226.38. This trade represents a 18.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,425 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $354.70, for a total value of $860,147.50. Following the sale, the insider now owns 6,275 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,225,742.50. This represents a 27.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Caterpillar Company 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.