Caterpillar Inc. $CAT Shares Sold by iA Global Asset Management Inc.

iA Global Asset Management Inc. trimmed its position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CATFree Report) by 17.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 34,847 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 7,315 shares during the quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $24,688,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Caterpillar by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 46,385,185 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $26,572,681,000 after buying an additional 442,164 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake in Caterpillar by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 35,388,550 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $20,273,039,000 after buying an additional 385,204 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Caterpillar by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,610,182 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $6,072,572,000 after buying an additional 94,524 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Caterpillar by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 9,493,266 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,438,408,000 after acquiring an additional 54,069 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 16.0% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 6,738,802 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,860,457,000 after acquiring an additional 928,974 shares during the period. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

Caterpillar stock opened at $1,063.84 on Wednesday. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12-month low of $384.25 and a 12-month high of $1,073.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The company has a market capitalization of $489.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.59. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $908.01 and its 200 day moving average price is $762.47.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CATGet Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.65 by $0.89. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 48.21% and a net margin of 13.33%.The company had revenue of $17.41 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.53 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $4.25 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 22.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 24.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 20th will be issued a dividend of $1.63 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 20th. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. This is a boost from Caterpillar’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.51. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.06%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $905.00 to $1,020.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on Caterpillar from $769.00 to $879.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on Caterpillar from $650.00 to $845.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Caterpillar from $1,050.00 to $1,155.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn increased their target price on Caterpillar from $700.00 to $950.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $941.45.

View Our Latest Research Report on Caterpillar

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 15,674 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $918.71, for a total value of $14,399,860.54. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 52,935 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,631,913.85. This represents a 22.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Jason Kaiser sold 5,642 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $883.03, for a total transaction of $4,982,055.26. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 9,594 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,471,789.82. This represents a 37.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 95,773 shares of company stock worth $87,642,635 over the last 90 days. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Caterpillar News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Caterpillar this week:

Caterpillar Company Profile

(Free Report)

Caterpillar Inc is a global manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines and locomotives. The company’s product portfolio includes earthmoving machines such as excavators, bulldozers, wheel loaders and off‑highway trucks, as well as a range of power generation products including generator sets and power systems for industrial and commercial use. Caterpillar serves customers across heavy construction, mining, energy, transportation and related industries with both equipment and integrated technology solutions.

In addition to manufacturing, Caterpillar provides a broad range of aftermarket parts and support services, including maintenance, repair, remanufacturing and fleet management tools.

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT)

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