Aire Advisors LLC Raises Stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Aire Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 1.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 9,217 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 105 shares during the quarter. Aire Advisors LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $3,343,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in CAT. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new position in Caterpillar during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in Caterpillar in the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CAT has been the subject of several recent research reports. StockNews.com lowered Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $420.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $452.00 to $414.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $330.00 to $300.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, UBS Group upgraded Caterpillar from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the company from $355.00 to $385.00 in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $383.80.

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

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

Caterpillar Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of Caterpillar stock opened at $341.83 on Tuesday. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1 year low of $307.05 and a 1 year high of $418.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The stock has a market cap of $163.37 billion, a PE ratio of 15.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.15. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $358.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $372.36.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.97 by $0.17. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 58.18% and a net margin of 16.65%. Equities research analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar 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.