Douglas Lane & Associates LLC Has $1.29 Million Stock Holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Douglas Lane & Associates LLC lowered its position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT - Free Report) by 16.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,912 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 785 shares during the period. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC's holdings in Caterpillar were worth $1,290,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in CAT. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 614 shares during the period. Victrix Investment Advisors purchased a new stake in Caterpillar during the fourth quarter worth about $2,090,000. Braun Stacey Associates Inc. increased its holdings in Caterpillar by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Braun Stacey Associates Inc. now owns 34,837 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $12,637,000 after purchasing an additional 963 shares during the period. Strategic Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Caterpillar by 14.6% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 5,724 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,076,000 after acquiring an additional 730 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MFG Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Caterpillar in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,308,000. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on CAT. DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $325.00 to $331.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Caterpillar from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and decreased their target price for the company from $300.00 to $283.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Baird R W raised shares of Caterpillar from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $490.00 to $380.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Citigroup increased 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. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $372.92.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Caterpillar Trading Down 0.2%

NYSE CAT traded down $0.56 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $348.77. 1,752,846 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,600,703. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $320.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $350.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52 week low of $267.30 and a 52 week high of $418.50. The stock has a market cap of $164.28 billion, a PE ratio of 15.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.37.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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). Caterpillar had a return on equity of 58.18% and a net margin of 16.65%. The firm had revenue of $14.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $14.64 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $5.60 EPS. The business's revenue was down 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 21st. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.62%. Caterpillar's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.