Madison Investment Advisors LLC Invests $8.52 Million in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Madison Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 23,476 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,516,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of CAT. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the 4th quarter worth approximately $353,231,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 50,072.7% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 804,770 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $291,938,000 after purchasing an additional 803,166 shares in the last quarter. Amundi grew its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 17.3% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,166,087 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $782,109,000 after purchasing an additional 318,891 shares in the last quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI grew its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 4,018.6% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC boosted its stake in Caterpillar by 36,168.5% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 227,041 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $82,361,000 after buying an additional 226,415 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Caterpillar

In related news, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,425 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $354.70, for a total value of $860,147.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 6,275 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,225,742.50. This represents a 27.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The shares were 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 in the company, 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 Down 1.4 %

CAT stock opened at $333.26 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $159.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.10, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.15. Caterpillar Inc. has a twelve month low of $307.05 and a twelve month high of $418.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. The business has a fifty day moving average of $361.27 and a 200-day moving average of $372.42.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CAT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Caterpillar from $330.00 to $300.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Wedbush raised Caterpillar to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Caterpillar from $455.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com lowered Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Caterpillar from $515.00 to $490.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $383.80.

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.