Fred Alger Management LLC Acquires New Shares in Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Fred Alger Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 100,181 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,801,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Marquette Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Caterpillar by 1,060.0% in the 3rd quarter. Marquette Asset Management LLC now owns 58 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. Joseph Group Capital Management purchased a new position in Caterpillar during the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Kilter Group LLC bought a new stake in Caterpillar during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Caterpillar in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, RiverPark Advisors LLC bought a new position in Caterpillar in the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CAT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. HSBC upped their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $660.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $729.00 to $817.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $610.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $765.00 to $860.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Caterpillar from $785.00 to $825.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $730.50.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 972 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $764.20, for a total transaction of $742,802.40. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 824 shares in the company, valued at $629,700.80. The trade was a 54.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Rodney Michael Shurman sold 2,278 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $759.61, for a total transaction of $1,730,391.58. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 1,443 shares in the company, valued at $1,096,117.23. This represents a 61.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have sold 135,950 shares of company stock worth $94,327,990. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Caterpillar Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of NYSE CAT opened at $693.89 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $322.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.87, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.53. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $693.92 and its 200 day moving average is $586.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52 week low of $267.30 and a 52 week high of $789.81.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The industrial products company reported $5.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.67 by $0.49. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 45.76% and a net margin of 13.14%.The company had revenue of $19.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.81 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $5.14 earnings per share. Caterpillar’s quarterly revenue was up 17.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar 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.