Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. Cuts Stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. decreased its holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT - Free Report) by 10.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 41,679 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 4,650 shares during the quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc.'s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $13,746,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pacific Point Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Caterpillar during the 4th quarter valued at about $579,000. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in shares of Caterpillar by 51.5% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new stake in Caterpillar in the fourth quarter valued at about $7,396,000. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 89.6% in the 4th quarter. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC now owns 1,365 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $495,000 after buying an additional 645 shares during the period. Finally, Stiles Financial Services Inc increased its position in Caterpillar by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Stiles Financial Services Inc now owns 2,880 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,045,000 after buying an additional 144 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company's stock.

Caterpillar Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of Caterpillar stock traded down $4.17 on Friday, hitting $356.79. The stock had a trading volume of 1,609,485 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,570,866. The firm has a market capitalization of $168.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.17, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.37. 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 Inc. has a twelve month low of $267.30 and a twelve month high of $418.50. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $325.40 and a 200 day moving average of $348.98.

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

Caterpillar Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Investors of record on Monday, July 21st will be issued a $1.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 21st. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.69%. This is a positive change from Caterpillar's previous quarterly dividend of $1.41. Caterpillar's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In related news, Director David Maclennan purchased 375 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $320.70 per share, for a total transaction of $120,262.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,653 shares in the company, valued at $2,133,617.10. The trade was a 5.97% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on CAT shares. Morgan Stanley raised Caterpillar from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and decreased their price target for the company from $300.00 to $283.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Caterpillar from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $309.00 to $395.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $375.00 to $373.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Caterpillar from $490.00 to $380.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Oppenheimer upgraded Caterpillar from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $395.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $372.92.

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.