Millstone Evans Group LLC Acquires New Position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 120 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,000.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Caterpillar during the fourth quarter worth about $353,231,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 803,166 shares during the period. Amundi grew its position in Caterpillar by 17.3% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI grew its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 4,018.6% in 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 raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 226,415 shares in the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Gerald Johnson bought 100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $365.57 per share, with a total value of $36,557.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,116,085.21. This trade represents a 3.39 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction of $3,800,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 45,182 shares in the company, 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 owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on CAT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $515.00 to $490.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. DA Davidson increased their target price on Caterpillar from $350.00 to $357.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Caterpillar from $455.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Wedbush upgraded shares of Caterpillar to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $452.00 to $414.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $383.80.

Caterpillar Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CAT opened at $335.49 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $358.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $372.30. The stock has a market cap of $160.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.15. Caterpillar Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $307.05 and a fifty-two week high of $418.50. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.97 by $0.17. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 58.18% and a net margin of 16.65%. Equities analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current year.

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.