Stephens Consulting LLC Trims Stock Position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Stephens Consulting LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 18.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 450 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 101 shares during the period. Stephens Consulting LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $163,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CAT. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,213,455 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,987,206,000 after purchasing an additional 67,148 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake 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 last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in Caterpillar by 1.8% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,627,513 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,418,793,000 after buying an additional 64,452 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Caterpillar by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,227,378 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,262,290,000 after buying an additional 8,088 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Caterpillar by 39,534.0% in 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 buying an additional 2,131,276 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In related news, Director Gerald Johnson acquired 100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $398.57 per share, with a total value of $39,857.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 2,953 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,176,977.21. The trade was a 3.51 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Lange Bob De sold 12,657 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $410.25, for a total transaction of $5,192,534.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 71,107 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,171,646.75. This trade represents a 15.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 30,236 shares of company stock worth $12,102,371 in the last 90 days. 0.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Caterpillar Stock Down 2.6 %

Shares of NYSE:CAT opened at $361.62 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $380.88 and a two-hundred day moving average of $371.17. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52-week low of $307.05 and a 52-week high of $418.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. The company has a market capitalization of $174.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.12.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released 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, analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be issued a $1.41 dividend. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 21st. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.56%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CAT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $455.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Caterpillar from an “underperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $365.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Caterpillar from $330.00 to $300.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Caterpillar from $299.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $381.00.

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.