B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. Sells 6,697 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. cut its holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT - Free Report) by 18.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 29,096 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 6,697 shares during the period. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $10,555,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Caterpillar by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 46,809,540 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $16,980,629,000 after purchasing an additional 284,366 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Caterpillar by 2.3% during 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 purchasing an additional 236,315 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Caterpillar by 1.4% in 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 increased its holdings in Caterpillar by 11.8% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,847,330 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $2,483,937,000 after acquiring an additional 724,477 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Caterpillar in the 4th quarter valued at $2,184,364,000. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on CAT. Wedbush upgraded shares of Caterpillar to an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Baird R W upgraded shares of Caterpillar from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $375.00 to $373.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 19th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Caterpillar from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $272.00 to $357.00 in a report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $452.00 to $414.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $375.33.

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In other news, Director David Maclennan purchased 375 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $320.70 per share, for a total transaction of $120,262.50. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 6,653 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,133,617.10. This trade represents a 5.97% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Caterpillar Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CAT traded up $7.97 on Tuesday, reaching $351.36. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,238,603 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,636,514. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52-week low of $267.30 and a 52-week high of $418.50. The company has a market cap of $165.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.92, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $318.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $351.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.42.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $4.25 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.35 by ($0.10). The firm had revenue of $14.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.64 billion. Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.65% and a return on equity of 58.18%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.60 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Investors of record on Monday, April 21st were issued a dividend of $1.41 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 21st. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.61%. Caterpillar's payout ratio is 27.49%.

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.