Chilton Investment Co. Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Chilton Investment Co. Inc. grew its stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 944.3% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 11,059 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,000 shares during the quarter. Chilton Investment Co. Inc.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $5,277,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CAT. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Caterpillar by 2.3% in the second quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 9,418,321 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,656,286,000 after purchasing an additional 208,196 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Caterpillar during the 2nd quarter valued at $2,165,899,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Caterpillar by 3,949.8% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,228,058 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,494,568,000 after purchasing an additional 5,098,964 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 20.7% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,553,930 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,695,757,000 after buying an additional 609,023 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Caterpillar by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,337,915 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,295,432,000 after buying an additional 33,467 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

Shares of Caterpillar stock opened at $693.89 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $322.86 billion, a PE ratio of 36.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.44. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $693.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $585.00. Caterpillar Inc. has a one year low of $267.30 and a one year high of $789.81.

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

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In other Caterpillar news, CEO Joseph E. Creed sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $718.93, for a total value of $1,797,325.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 35,083 shares in the company, valued at $25,222,221.19. This trade represents a 6.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Lange Bob De sold 22,656 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction on Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $720.11, for a total transaction of $16,314,812.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 79,953 shares in the company, valued at $57,574,954.83. This represents a 22.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 135,950 shares of company stock valued at $94,327,990 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CAT has been the topic of several research reports. Argus raised their price target on Caterpillar from $625.00 to $820.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 21st. Daiwa Securities Group raised their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $640.00 to $790.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $765.00 to $860.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Wolfe Research increased their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $470.00 to $670.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 2nd. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $730.50.

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.