Strategic Investment Advisors MI Reduces Stock Holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Strategic Investment Advisors MI lowered its holdings in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 3.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,264 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 157 shares during the quarter. Strategic Investment Advisors MI’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $1,547,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position 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 worth $8,356,930,000 after acquiring an additional 2,131,276 shares during the period. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI lifted its position in Caterpillar by 4,018.6% during 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 purchasing an additional 249,155 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Caterpillar by 2.3% during 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 period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its position 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 worth $305,908,000 after buying an additional 200,210 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 106.2% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 317,828 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $124,309,000 after buying an additional 163,725 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $380.09, for a total value of $3,800,900.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 45,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,173,226.38. The trade was a 18.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Cheryl H. Johnson sold 2,664 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $378.84, for a total value of $1,009,229.76. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,951 shares in the company, valued at $4,906,356.84. This represents a 17.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 33,868 shares of company stock valued at $13,480,389 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on CAT. StockNews.com cut Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Evercore ISI raised Caterpillar from an “underperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $365.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Caterpillar from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Bank of America increased their price target on Caterpillar from $376.00 to $434.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Caterpillar from $455.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Caterpillar currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $380.60.

Caterpillar Price Performance

Shares of CAT stock opened at $407.95 on Monday. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1-year low of $293.13 and a 1-year high of $418.50. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $381.07 and its 200 day moving average is $369.50. The company has a market cap of $196.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.91, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 0.86.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.17 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.33 by ($0.16). Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.26% and a return on equity of 59.09%. The business had revenue of $16.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.37 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $5.52 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be paid a $1.41 dividend. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.38%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 21st. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is 26.15%.

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.