Stonnington Group LLC increased its position in  Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 28.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 15,246 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 3,401 shares during the quarter. Caterpillar accounts for  1.1% of Stonnington Group LLC's holdings, making the stock its 24th largest position. Stonnington Group LLC's holdings in Caterpillar were worth $3,819,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC increased its stake in shares of  Caterpillar by 1.5% in the third quarter. Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC now owns 3,355 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $550,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the period.  First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. lifted 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 worth $1,936,000 after purchasing an additional 2,850 shares during the period.  Cladis Investment Advisory LLC boosted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 150 shares during the last quarter.  Fayez Sarofim & Co increased its position in shares of  Caterpillar by 2.0% during the third quarter. Fayez Sarofim & Co now owns 35,479 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $5,822,000 after buying an additional 691 shares during the period.  Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System raised its stake in  Caterpillar by 17.0% during the third quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 1,201,884 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $197,205,000 after buying an additional 174,361 shares during the last quarter. 68.02% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Caterpillar

In other news, Director David Maclennan purchased 400 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 17th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $249.29 per share, with a total value of $99,716.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,709 shares of the company's stock, valued at $924,616.61. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, insider Cheryl H. Johnson sold 23,883 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.44, for a total value of $5,981,258.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,857 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,470,347.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director David Maclennan purchased 400 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 17th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $249.29 per share, for a total transaction of $99,716.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 3,709 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $924,616.61. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 90,984 shares of company stock worth $22,519,893 in the last quarter. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target 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. Barclays lifted their target price on Caterpillar from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 1st. Credit Suisse Group increased their price target on Caterpillar from $290.00 to $306.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 1st. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Caterpillar in a report on Thursday. They set a "buy" rating on the stock. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on Caterpillar to $250.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned  a hold rating and eight have issued  a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $241.00.

Caterpillar Price Performance

CAT stock opened at $215.01 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $111.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.11. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52-week low of $160.60 and a 52-week high of $266.04. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $246.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $222.28. 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) last announced 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 company had revenue of $16.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $15.84 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.69 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 20.3% on a year-over-year basis.  Research analysts expect that  Caterpillar Inc. will post 15.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Caterpillar

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.