Assetmark Inc. Purchases 924 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 12.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,133 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 924 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $3,881,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its position in shares of Caterpillar by 16.3% during the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 40,433 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $19,293,000 after purchasing an additional 5,675 shares in the last quarter. Moment Partners LLC raised its holdings in Caterpillar by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Moment Partners LLC now owns 1,816 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $867,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 17,262 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $8,237,000 after purchasing an additional 1,181 shares during the period. Echo45 Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the third quarter worth approximately $208,000. Finally, Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co increased its stake in Caterpillar by 13.3% in the third quarter. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 78,556 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $37,483,000 after purchasing an additional 9,200 shares during the period. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $678.00 price target on shares of Caterpillar in a report on Friday, January 30th. Bank of America increased their target price on Caterpillar from $735.00 to $825.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Caterpillar from $700.00 to $729.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Citigroup increased their price target on Caterpillar from $710.00 to $760.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $740.00 to $765.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $702.95.

Key Stories Impacting Caterpillar

Here are the key news stories impacting Caterpillar this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Caterpillar is being highlighted for providing power and infrastructure solutions to high?tech data centers, a market with strong long?term demand that could diversify revenue and support higher utilization of its power systems and electrification products. High-tech data centers get a powerful assist from a century-old company
• Neutral Sentiment: Zacks notes that Caterpillar is a trending stock and summarizes factors investors are watching; this reflects retail/institutional attention but doesn’t by itself change fundamentals. Here is What to Know Beyond Why Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) is a Trending Stock
• Neutral Sentiment: A personal?finance roundup that lists long?term dividend ideas may lift general investor interest in dividend payers, but it’s a broad theme piece and not a direct catalyst for CAT. 2 Dividend Stocks to Hold for the Next 10 Years
• Negative Sentiment: Insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 7,891 shares (~$6.13M at ~$776.90/share) and trimmed his position ~14.5%. Large insider sales can spook investors even if legally routine, adding selling pressure. SEC Filing – Insider Sale by Anthony D. Fassino
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks Research lowered Q2 EPS estimates for Caterpillar, signaling softer near?term earnings expectations that can pressure the stock until guidance or results reverse the trend. Q2 EPS Estimates for Caterpillar Lowered by Zacks Research

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In related news, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 7,891 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $776.90, for a total transaction of $6,130,517.90. Following the transaction, the insider owned 46,643 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $36,236,946.70. This represents a 14.47% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Denise C. Johnson sold 39,138 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $681.08, for a total transaction of $26,656,109.04. Following the sale, the insider owned 43,350 shares in the company, valued at $29,524,818. This trade represents a 47.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 138,436 shares of company stock valued at $94,425,251 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

CAT opened at $764.27 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $641.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $546.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 0.94. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1 year low of $267.30 and a 1 year high of $789.81. The stock has a market cap of $357.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.58.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The industrial products company reported $5.16 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.67 by $0.49. Caterpillar had a net margin of 13.14% and a return on equity of 45.76%. The business had revenue of $19.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.81 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $5.14 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 17.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 19th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 20th will be given a $1.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 20th. This represents a $6.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.09%.

Caterpillar Company Profile

Caterpillar Inc is a global manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines and locomotives. The company’s product portfolio includes earthmoving machines such as excavators, bulldozers, wheel loaders and off?highway trucks, as well as a range of power generation products including generator sets and power systems for industrial and commercial use. Caterpillar serves customers across heavy construction, mining, energy, transportation and related industries with both equipment and integrated technology solutions.

In addition to manufacturing, Caterpillar provides a broad range of aftermarket parts and support services, including maintenance, repair, remanufacturing and fleet management tools.