Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV Sells 701 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV lessened its position in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 6.0% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 10,919 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 701 shares during the period. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $3,601,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of CAT. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Caterpillar by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 46,809,540 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $16,980,629,000 after buying an additional 284,366 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,449,770 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,790,841,000 after acquiring an additional 236,315 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 9,081,775 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,294,505,000 after acquiring an additional 129,143 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 11.8% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,847,330 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,483,937,000 after purchasing an additional 724,477 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,184,364,000. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Caterpillar Price Performance

CAT opened at $371.63 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $338.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $346.61. The firm has a market cap of $175.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.11, a PEG ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.37. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1 year low of $267.30 and a 1 year high of $418.50.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $4.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.35 by ($0.10). The firm had revenue of $14.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.64 billion. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 53.77% and a net margin of 15.71%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $5.60 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 21st. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.63%. This is a boost from Caterpillar’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.41. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.49%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CAT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $490.00 to $380.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Caterpillar from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $272.00 to $357.00 in a research report on Friday, May 16th. DA Davidson increased their target price on Caterpillar from $325.00 to $331.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Caterpillar from $375.00 to $373.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised Caterpillar from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $300.00 to $283.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Six investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat, Caterpillar presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $380.83.

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In related news, Director David Maclennan acquired 375 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $320.70 per share, for a total transaction of $120,262.50. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 6,653 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,133,617.10. This represents a 5.97% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.