Hodges Capital Management Inc. Trims Stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Hodges Capital Management Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 2.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,970 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 652 shares during the quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $7,970,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of CAT. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Caterpillar by 39,534.0% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,136,667 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $8,356,930,000 after buying an additional 2,131,276 shares during the period. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI increased its holdings in Caterpillar by 4,018.6% in 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 purchasing an additional 249,155 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in Caterpillar by 2.3% in the third 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 purchasing an additional 205,012 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its stake in Caterpillar by 34.4% during the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 782,133 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $305,908,000 after purchasing an additional 200,210 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 106.2% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 317,828 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $124,309,000 after buying an additional 163,725 shares during the period. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group upgraded Caterpillar from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $355.00 to $385.00 in a report on Monday. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $452.00 to $414.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $299.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $515.00 to $490.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $382.13.

Caterpillar Trading Down 0.8 %

CAT opened at $371.88 on Monday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $380.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $371.17. The company has a market cap of $179.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.85, a PEG ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.12. Caterpillar Inc. has a one year low of $299.93 and a one year high of $418.50. 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 (NYSE:CAT) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 16.65% and a return on equity of 58.18%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be issued a dividend of $1.41 per share. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 21st. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is 25.56%.

Insider Transactions at Caterpillar

In related news, Director Gerald Johnson bought 100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $398.57 per share, with a total value of $39,857.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 2,953 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,176,977.21. This trade represents a 3.51 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $380.09, for a total value of $3,800,900.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 45,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,173,226.38. This represents a 18.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 30,236 shares of company stock worth $12,102,371. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

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.