Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC Decreases Holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC decreased its holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,433 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 36 shares during the period. Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $520,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Caterpillar by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 9,483 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,157,000 after acquiring an additional 446 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the second quarter valued at approximately $729,000. Angeles Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 9.4% in the second quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 916 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $305,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. AdvisorShares Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the second quarter worth $421,000. Finally, LPL Financial LLC raised its holdings in Caterpillar by 7.7% during the 2nd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 836,044 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $278,486,000 after buying an additional 59,824 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on CAT shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $455.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Caterpillar from $299.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Caterpillar from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Caterpillar from $435.00 to $460.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on Caterpillar from $376.00 to $434.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Caterpillar currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $384.33.

Caterpillar Trading Down 0.6 %

NYSE:CAT opened at $360.75 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $174.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.72, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 0.86. Caterpillar Inc. has a one year low of $276.94 and a one year high of $418.50. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $382.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $365.00.

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

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Caterpillar news, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 968 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $380.98, for a total value of $368,788.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,686 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $642,332.28. The trade was a 36.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Gerald Johnson purchased 100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $398.57 per share, for a total transaction of $39,857.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 2,953 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,176,977.21. The trade was a 3.51 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 23,868 shares of company stock worth $9,679,489 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

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.