California Public Employees Retirement System Reduces Stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

California Public Employees Retirement System cut its stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 7.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 854,517 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 73,414 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $309,985,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. RWA Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in Caterpillar by 125.3% during the fourth quarter. RWA Wealth Partners LLC now owns 66,151 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $23,997,000 after buying an additional 36,789 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 11.9% during the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 701,866 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $254,784,000 after purchasing an additional 74,519 shares during the period. MV Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Caterpillar by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 10,990 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,987,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares during the period. Allianz SE bought a new stake in Caterpillar in the fourth quarter worth about $17,339,000. Finally, Allstate Corp purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,221,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CAT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup raised their price target on Caterpillar from $420.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com downgraded Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $330.00 to $300.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $455.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Raymond James upgraded shares of Caterpillar from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $383.80.

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In other Caterpillar news, Director Gerald Johnson purchased 100 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $365.57 per share, with a total value of $36,557.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 3,053 shares in the company, valued at $1,116,085.21. The trade was a 3.39 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 45,182 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,173,226.38. This trade 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 insiders.

Caterpillar Trading Down 2.8 %

CAT opened at $329.65 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. The firm has a market cap of $157.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.94, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.15. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12 month low of $307.05 and a 12 month high of $418.50. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $354.99 and a 200-day moving average price of $372.24.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.14 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.97 by $0.17. Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.65% and a return on equity of 58.18%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Caterpillar

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.