JTC Employer Solutions Trustee Ltd Trims Position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

JTC Employer Solutions Trustee Ltd lessened its stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 43.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 520 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 400 shares during the quarter. JTC Employer Solutions Trustee Ltd’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $188,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 39,534.0% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,136,667 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $8,356,930,000 after acquiring an additional 2,131,276 shares during the last quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd boosted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 3,319.7% during the 2nd quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 275,011 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $91,606,000 after acquiring an additional 266,969 shares during the last quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI boosted its position 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 valued at $99,874,000 after acquiring an additional 249,155 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 8,952,632 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,501,554,000 after acquiring an additional 205,012 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec boosted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 34.4% during the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 782,133 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $305,908,000 after acquiring an additional 200,210 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 6,279 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $408.59, for a total value of $2,565,536.61. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 33,565 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,714,323.35. This represents a 15.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 968 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $380.98, for a total value of $368,788.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,686 shares in the company, valued at approximately $642,332.28. This represents a 36.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 23,868 shares of company stock valued at $9,679,489 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on CAT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Caterpillar from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com downgraded Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Caterpillar from $299.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Bank of America boosted their target price on Caterpillar from $376.00 to $434.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on Caterpillar from $285.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $384.33.

Caterpillar Trading Up 2.0 %

Shares of CAT traded up $7.06 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $358.06. 904,978 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,691,858. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1 year low of $276.94 and a 1 year high of $418.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $172.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.60, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.13. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $382.16 and its 200-day moving average price is $365.69.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.33 by ($0.16). Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.26% and a return on equity of 59.09%. The business had revenue of $16.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.37 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $5.52 earnings per share. Caterpillar’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be paid a $1.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 21st. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.58%. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is 26.15%.

Caterpillar 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.