Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) Shares Sold by Cadent Capital Advisors LLC

Cadent Capital Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,715 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 33 shares during the period. Cadent Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $985,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CAT. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 0.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,213,455 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,987,206,000 after purchasing an additional 67,148 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Caterpillar by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 8,952,632 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,501,554,000 after buying an additional 205,012 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 2.0% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,862,443 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,286,582,000 after acquiring an additional 75,973 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 1.8% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,627,513 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,418,793,000 after acquiring an additional 64,452 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Caterpillar by 0.3% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,227,378 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,262,290,000 after purchasing an additional 8,088 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Caterpillar

In other Caterpillar news, Director Gerald Johnson acquired 100 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $398.57 per share, with a total value of $39,857.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 2,953 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,176,977.21. This trade represents a 3.51 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 6,279 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $408.59, for a total value of $2,565,536.61. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 33,565 shares in the company, valued at $13,714,323.35. This trade represents a 15.76 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 23,868 shares of company stock worth $9,679,489. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CAT has been the topic of several recent research reports. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $299.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com cut shares of Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Morgan Stanley cut Caterpillar from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $349.00 to $332.00 in a report on Monday, October 14th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Caterpillar from $376.00 to $434.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on Caterpillar from $435.00 to $460.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $384.33.

Caterpillar Stock Up 2.9 %

CAT stock traded up $10.02 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $361.02. The company had a trading volume of 1,282,572 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,742,725. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $382.16 and a 200 day simple moving average of $365.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.40. The company has a market capitalization of $174.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.13. Caterpillar Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $276.94 and a fifty-two week high of $418.50.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.17 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.33 by ($0.16). The business had revenue of $16.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.37 billion. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 59.09% and a net margin of 16.26%. Caterpillar’s revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $5.52 EPS. Analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be paid a $1.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 21st. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.56%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.15%.

Caterpillar 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.