Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) Shares Sold by First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. decreased its holdings in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 6.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,061 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 288 shares during the quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $1,473,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in CAT. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Caterpillar by 39,534.0% in the third 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. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI boosted its holdings in Caterpillar by 4,018.6% in the third 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 holdings 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 acquiring an additional 205,012 shares during the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec boosted its holdings in Caterpillar by 34.4% in the third 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. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in Caterpillar by 106.2% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 317,828 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $124,309,000 after acquiring an additional 163,725 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of Caterpillar stock opened at $407.95 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33. The firm has a market cap of $196.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.13. Caterpillar Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $293.13 and a fifty-two week high of $418.50. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $381.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $369.50.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.17 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.33 by ($0.16). The firm had revenue of $16.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.37 billion. Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.26% and a return on equity of 59.09%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.52 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders 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 1.38%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 21st. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.15%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on CAT. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Caterpillar from $460.00 to $420.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Caterpillar from $299.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley cut Caterpillar from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $349.00 to $332.00 in a research note on Monday, October 14th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Caterpillar from $285.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded Caterpillar from an “underperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $365.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Three equities research 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, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $380.60.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 968 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $380.98, for a total transaction of $368,788.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,686 shares in the company, valued at approximately $642,332.28. The trade was a 36.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Daniel M. Dickinson sold 1,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $418.00, for a total value of $543,400.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 4,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,079,968. This represents a 20.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 33,868 shares of company stock valued at $13,480,389. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.