Dakota Wealth Management trimmed its position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT - Free Report) by 7.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 35,865 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 2,716 shares during the quarter. Dakota Wealth Management's holdings in Caterpillar were worth $11,828,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pacific Point Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Caterpillar in the fourth quarter valued at about $579,000. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in Caterpillar by 51.5% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,409 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $2,688,000 after purchasing an additional 2,519 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its position in Caterpillar by 38.3% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,218 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $805,000 after purchasing an additional 614 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its position in Caterpillar by 7.8% in the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 248,548 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $90,163,000 after purchasing an additional 18,041 shares during the last quarter. Finally, one8zero8 LLC bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the fourth quarter worth about $663,000. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Insider Activity
In related news, Director David Maclennan purchased 375 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was bought at an average price of $320.70 per share, for a total transaction of $120,262.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 6,653 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,133,617.10. The trade was a 5.97% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on CAT. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Caterpillar in a research report on Monday. Morgan Stanley raised Caterpillar from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $300.00 to $283.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. UBS Group raised Caterpillar from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $272.00 to $357.00 in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Evercore ISI decreased their target price 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, DA Davidson raised their target price on Caterpillar from $325.00 to $331.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $406.47.
Check Out Our Latest Report on Caterpillar
Caterpillar Stock Performance
NYSE CAT traded down $0.88 on Tuesday, hitting $404.89. 2,166,822 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,525,373. The company has a market capitalization of $190.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43. The business's 50 day moving average price is $364.12 and its 200-day moving average price is $348.60. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52-week low of $267.30 and a 52-week high of $418.50.
Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $4.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.35 by ($0.10). The company had revenue of $14.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $14.64 billion. Caterpillar had a net margin of 15.71% and a return on equity of 53.77%. Caterpillar's revenue for the quarter was down 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $5.60 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current year.
Caterpillar Increases Dividend
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 21st will be issued a $1.51 dividend. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.49%. This is a boost from Caterpillar's previous quarterly dividend of $1.41. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 21st. Caterpillar's payout ratio is 27.49%.
Caterpillar Company Profile
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Free Report)
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.
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