Obermeyer Wealth Partners Sells 4,156 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Obermeyer Wealth Partners cut its stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 86.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 665 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 4,156 shares during the quarter. Obermeyer Wealth Partners’ holdings in Caterpillar were worth $241,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CAT. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Caterpillar by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 46,809,540 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $16,980,629,000 after purchasing an additional 284,366 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,449,770 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,790,841,000 after buying an additional 236,315 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 9,081,775 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,294,505,000 after buying an additional 129,143 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 11.8% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,847,330 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,483,937,000 after buying an additional 724,477 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the fourth quarter worth about $2,184,364,000. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on CAT shares. Wedbush raised shares of Caterpillar to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com cut shares of Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. UBS Group upgraded Caterpillar from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $355.00 to $385.00 in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Caterpillar from $452.00 to $414.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price objective on Caterpillar from $325.00 to $331.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Caterpillar currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $377.83.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,425 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $354.70, for a total transaction of $860,147.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,275 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,225,742.50. This trade represents a 27.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director David Maclennan bought 375 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $320.70 per share, with a total value of $120,262.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 6,653 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,133,617.10. This represents a 5.97% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Price Performance

CAT opened at $352.58 on Wednesday. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12 month low of $267.30 and a 12 month high of $418.50. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $317.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $354.64. The stock has a market cap of $166.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $4.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.35 by ($0.10). Caterpillar had a return on equity of 58.18% and a net margin of 16.65%. The business had revenue of $14.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $5.60 earnings per share. Caterpillar’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 21st will be issued a dividend of $1.41 per share. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 21st. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.49%.

About Caterpillar

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.