American International Group Inc. Trims Stock Position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

American International Group Inc. decreased its position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT – Get Rating) by 8.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 153,229 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 13,538 shares during the period. American International Group Inc.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $36,708,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Caterpillar by 0.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 40,070,278 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $6,574,731,000 after acquiring an additional 291,836 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Caterpillar by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 7,390,616 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,770,496,000 after purchasing an additional 100,168 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in Caterpillar by 1.7% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,440,783 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $892,724,000 after purchasing an additional 92,360 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 3.8% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,697,327 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $601,019,000 after buying an additional 98,914 shares during the period. Finally, Altshuler Shaham Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 46.8% in the 3rd quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 2,624,672 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $435,423,000 after buying an additional 836,340 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.02% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CAT traded up $1.99 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $211.97. The stock had a trading volume of 867,827 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,220,249. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $217.25 and a 200-day moving average of $232.93. The firm has a market cap of $109.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.52, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. Caterpillar Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $160.60 and a fifty-two week high of $266.04.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT – Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 27th. The industrial products company reported $4.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.79 by $1.12. Caterpillar had a net margin of 11.52% and a return on equity of 50.98%. The business had revenue of $15.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.27 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.88 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 17.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 24th were issued a $1.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 21st. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.26%. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is 35.48%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CAT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $210.00 to $230.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 7th. Credit Suisse Group increased their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $290.00 to $306.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 1st. UBS Group cut their price objective on Caterpillar from $210.00 to $208.00 in a research report on Friday, April 28th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Caterpillar from $228.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 1st. Finally, William Blair restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Caterpillar in a research note on Tuesday, January 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $238.94.

About Caterpillar

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Caterpillar, Inc engages in the manufacture of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines, and diesel-electric locomotives. It operates through the following segments: Construction Industries, Resource Industries, Energy and Transportation, Financial Products, and All Other.