American Century Companies Inc. Cuts Position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

American Century Companies Inc. lessened its stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 0.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 514,295 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 2,705 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $186,566,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC purchased a new position in Caterpillar during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new position in Caterpillar during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Caterpillar during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on CAT. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $365.00 to $375.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $455.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $420.00 to $430.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $350.00 to $357.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $330.00 to $300.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $383.80.

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In other Caterpillar news, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,425 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $354.70, for a total transaction of $860,147.50. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,275 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,225,742.50. This trade represents a 27.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Caterpillar Price Performance

CAT opened at $335.49 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $358.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $372.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.42. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1 year low of $307.05 and a 1 year high of $418.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $160.34 billion, a PE ratio of 15.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.15.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 16.65% and a return on equity of 58.18%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Company 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.