Congress Park Capital LLC Sells 125 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Congress Park Capital LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 7.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,470 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 125 shares during the quarter. Congress Park Capital LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $539,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CAT. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,660,560,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Caterpillar by 28,603.5% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,494,018 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,417,360,000 after purchasing an additional 1,488,813 shares during the last quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC boosted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 27,495.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 1,182,453 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $349,616,000 after buying an additional 1,178,168 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 19.4% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,264,635 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $947,875,000 after buying an additional 529,420 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich boosted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 5,293.1% in the 4th quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 482,360 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $142,620,000 after buying an additional 473,416 shares during the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $293.00 to $350.00 in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Caterpillar in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Raymond James initiated coverage on Caterpillar in a research note on Friday. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Caterpillar from $357.00 to $408.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Citigroup initiated coverage on Caterpillar in a research report on Wednesday. They set a “buy” rating and a $380.00 target price for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $329.63.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

CAT stock traded up $5.09 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $332.55. The stock had a trading volume of 1,409,394 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,658,726. The stock has a market cap of $162.63 billion, a PE ratio of 14.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 1.35. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $340.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $328.07. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52-week low of $223.76 and a 52-week high of $382.01.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $5.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.12 by $0.48. The company had revenue of $15.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.07 billion. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 58.61% and a net margin of 16.79%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.84 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 22nd will be given a dividend of $1.41 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 22nd. This is a boost from Caterpillar’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.70%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.48%.

Caterpillar announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, June 12th that permits the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the industrial products company to buy up to 12.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Cheryl H. Johnson sold 1,508 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $340.00, for a total value of $512,720.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 20,023 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,807,820. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Caterpillar news, insider Cheryl H. Johnson sold 1,508 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $340.00, for a total value of $512,720.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 20,023 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,807,820. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Lange Bob De sold 21,847 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $356.90, for a total transaction of $7,797,194.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 71,115 shares in the company, valued at $25,380,943.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.33% 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.