LaFleur & Godfrey LLC raised its holdings in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT – Get Rating) by 0.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 53,662 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the period. Caterpillar makes up 2.1% of LaFleur & Godfrey LLC's holdings, making the stock its 15th largest position. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC's holdings in Caterpillar were worth $12,855,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC raised its position in shares of Caterpillar by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC now owns 3,355 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $550,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. EWG Elevate Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the 4th quarter valued at $75,000. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. increased its position in shares of Caterpillar by 31.8% in the 3rd quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 11,799 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,936,000 after buying an additional 2,850 shares in the last quarter. Cladis Investment Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of Caterpillar by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Cladis Investment Advisory LLC now owns 4,483 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $736,000 after buying an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fayez Sarofim & Co increased its position in shares of Caterpillar by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Fayez Sarofim & Co now owns 35,479 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $5,822,000 after buying an additional 691 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.02% of the company's stock.

Caterpillar Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:CAT opened at $215.48 on Monday. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52-week low of $160.60 and a 52-week high of $266.04. The company has a market capitalization of $111.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $246.19 and a 200 day simple moving average of $222.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 1.39.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 31st. The industrial products company reported $3.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.95 by ($0.09). Caterpillar had a net margin of 11.28% and a return on equity of 45.61%. The firm had revenue of $16.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.84 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.69 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 20.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 15.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CAT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $260.00 to $271.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, December 19th. Credit Suisse Group upped their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $290.00 to $306.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 1st. UBS Group cut Caterpillar from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $230.00 to $225.00 in a report on Friday, March 10th. Cowen increased their target price on Caterpillar from $240.00 to $264.00 in a report on Friday, December 9th. Finally, Cowen increased their target price on Caterpillar from $240.00 to $264.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, December 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $241.00.

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In related news, insider Denise C. Johnson sold 23,737 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $240.14, for a total value of $5,700,203.18. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 8,605 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,066,404.70. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Caterpillar news, insider Joseph E. Creed sold 18,294 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.00, for a total transaction of $4,555,206.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Denise C. Johnson sold 23,737 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $240.14, for a total transaction of $5,700,203.18. Following the sale, the insider now owns 8,605 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,066,404.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 90,984 shares of company stock worth $22,519,893. Insiders own 0.27% of the company's stock.

Caterpillar Profile

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Caterpillar, Inc engages in the manufacture of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines, and diesel-electric locomotives. It operates through the following segments: Construction Industries, Resource Industries, Energy and Transportation, Financial Products, and All Other.

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