Retirement Systems of Alabama Cuts Stock Position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Retirement Systems of Alabama lessened its holdings in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 1.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 280,183 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 5,538 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama owned approximately 0.06% of Caterpillar worth $82,842,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Gilfoyle & Co LLC acquired a new position in Caterpillar during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC acquired a new position in Caterpillar during the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Caterpillar during the third quarter worth $41,000. Rational Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Caterpillar in the third quarter valued at $42,000. Finally, Milestone Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Caterpillar in the third quarter valued at $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of Caterpillar stock traded up $5.38 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $343.38. The stock had a trading volume of 3,324,630 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,414,735. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $350.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $300.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $171.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1 year low of $204.04 and a 1 year high of $382.01.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $5.60 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.12 by $0.48. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 58.61% and a net margin of 16.79%. The company had revenue of $15.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.07 billion. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 22nd will be paid a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 19th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.51%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.48%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on CAT shares. Evercore ISI lowered Caterpillar from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and upped their target price for the company from $321.00 to $338.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Caterpillar from $210.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $293.00 to $350.00 in a research report on Friday. Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Caterpillar in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Caterpillar from $290.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $310.83.

Insider Activity

In other Caterpillar news, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 4,575 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $329.80, for a total transaction of $1,508,835.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 23,474 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,741,725.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, insider Lange Bob De sold 21,194 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $325.52, for a total transaction of $6,899,070.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 61,092 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,886,667.84. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 4,575 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $329.80, for a total value of $1,508,835.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 23,474 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,741,725.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 35,769 shares of company stock worth $11,508,906. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Caterpillar Company 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.