Handelsbanken Fonder AB Buys 27,779 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 20.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 163,201 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 27,779 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $48,254,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Waterway Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $352,000. Farmers Trust Co. grew its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Farmers Trust Co. now owns 4,490 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,328,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Firethorn Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 19.4% in the fourth quarter. Firethorn Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,825 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $540,000 after acquiring an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 16.7% in the third quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 367,655 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $100,370,000 after acquiring an additional 52,576 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Caterpillar by 7.8% during the fourth quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 1,074 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $318,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 4,575 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $329.80, for a total transaction of $1,508,835.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 23,474 shares in the company, valued at $7,741,725.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 4,575 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $329.80, for a total transaction of $1,508,835.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 23,474 shares in the company, valued at $7,741,725.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.10, for a total transaction of $3,101,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 57,317 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,774,001.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 45,769 shares of company stock worth $14,509,306. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on CAT shares. Morgan Stanley started coverage on Caterpillar in a report on Monday, January 8th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $270.00 price objective for the company. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Caterpillar from $300.00 to $338.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. StockNews.com lowered Caterpillar from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Caterpillar from $357.00 to $408.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Caterpillar from $290.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Caterpillar currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $307.56.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

Shares of CAT opened at $354.66 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 0.87. Caterpillar Inc. has a one year low of $204.04 and a one year high of $382.01. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $346.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $298.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $177.12 billion, a PE ratio of 17.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.17.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 5th. The industrial products company reported $5.23 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.76 by $0.47. Caterpillar had a net margin of 15.41% and a return on equity of 56.99%. The business had revenue of $17.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.06 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.86 earnings per share. Caterpillar’s quarterly revenue was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 22nd will be issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 19th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.47%. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is 25.82%.

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.