Milestone Asset Management LLC Sells 3,591 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Milestone Asset Management LLC lowered its stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT - Free Report) by 72.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,369 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 3,591 shares during the quarter. Milestone Asset Management LLC's holdings in Caterpillar were worth $452,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CAT. Inspirion Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Caterpillar by 50.9% during the 1st quarter. Inspirion Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 952 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $314,000 after acquiring an additional 321 shares during the period. Sweeney & Michel LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the 1st quarter valued at about $523,000. NBC Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 72,833.3% during the 1st quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 4,376 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,443,000 after buying an additional 4,370 shares during the last quarter. American National Bank & Trust lifted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. American National Bank & Trust now owns 26,174 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $8,632,000 after buying an additional 1,381 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 4.9% during the 1st quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 109,773 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $36,203,000 after buying an additional 5,092 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director David Maclennan acquired 375 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 6,653 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,133,617.10. This trade represents a 5.97% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CAT has been the subject of several research reports. Citigroup lifted their price target on Caterpillar from $320.00 to $370.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on Caterpillar from $375.00 to $373.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 19th. Baird R W upgraded Caterpillar from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Truist Financial restated a "buy" rating and issued a $396.00 target price (up from $389.00) on shares of Caterpillar in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on Caterpillar from $335.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $372.92.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

Shares of CAT traded up $0.24 on Wednesday, reaching $349.64. 1,616,260 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,608,544. The firm has a market cap of $164.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 0.89. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12 month low of $267.30 and a 12 month high of $418.50. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $319.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $350.36.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $4.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 prior year, the firm posted $5.60 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

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

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.