KBC Group NV Buys 59,829 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

KBC Group NV increased its stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 54.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 170,554 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 59,829 shares during the period. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $61,870,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of CAT. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Caterpillar by 39,534.0% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,136,667 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $8,356,930,000 after acquiring an additional 2,131,276 shares during the period. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI increased its position 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 purchasing an additional 249,155 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Caterpillar by 2.3% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 8,952,632 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,501,554,000 after purchasing an additional 205,012 shares in the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 34.4% during the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 782,133 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $305,908,000 after acquiring an additional 200,210 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 106.2% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 317,828 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $124,309,000 after acquiring an additional 163,725 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

Shares of CAT stock opened at $394.60 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 0.86. Caterpillar Inc. has a one year low of $297.45 and a one year high of $418.50. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $381.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $369.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $190.51 billion, a PE ratio of 18.29, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.13.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.17 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.37 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $5.52 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 21st. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.15%.

Insider Transactions at Caterpillar

In other news, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 968 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $380.98, for a total value of $368,788.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,686 shares in the company, valued at $642,332.28. This trade represents a 36.47 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Gerald Johnson purchased 100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $398.57 per share, for a total transaction of $39,857.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 2,953 shares in the company, valued at $1,176,977.21. This trade represents a 3.51 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 33,868 shares of company stock valued at $13,480,389 in the last quarter. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on CAT. Evercore ISI upgraded Caterpillar from an “underperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $365.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. StockNews.com lowered Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Caterpillar from $376.00 to $434.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $460.00 to $420.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $285.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Caterpillar presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $380.60.

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.