Jackson Square Capital LLC Sells 5,528 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Jackson Square Capital LLC decreased its stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 32.7% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 11,361 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 5,528 shares during the quarter. Caterpillar accounts for 1.2% of Jackson Square Capital LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest position. Jackson Square Capital LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $3,747,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Pacific Point Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Caterpillar in the fourth quarter valued at about $579,000. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in Caterpillar by 51.5% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,409 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,688,000 after acquiring an additional 2,519 shares during the period. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new stake in Caterpillar in the fourth quarter valued at about $7,396,000. Ingalls & Snyder LLC increased its stake in Caterpillar by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Ingalls & Snyder LLC now owns 5,345 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,939,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the period. Finally, Catalyst Financial Partners LLC increased its stake in Caterpillar by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 4,664 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,692,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on CAT. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $320.00 to $370.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Baird R W upgraded shares of Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $375.00 to $373.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Caterpillar from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $272.00 to $357.00 in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Caterpillar presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $372.92.

Caterpillar Price Performance

Shares of Caterpillar stock opened at $356.79 on Friday. Caterpillar Inc. has a twelve month low of $267.30 and a twelve month 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 50-day simple moving average of $327.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $348.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $168.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.37.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $4.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.64 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $5.60 EPS. Caterpillar’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 21st will be issued a $1.51 dividend. This is a positive change from Caterpillar’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.41. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 21st. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In other news, Director David Maclennan bought 375 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $320.70 per share, with a total value of $120,262.50. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 6,653 shares in the company, valued at $2,133,617.10. This represents a 5.97% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.