Caterpillar Inc. $CAT Shares Sold by Great Lakes Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Great Lakes Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Caterpillar Inc. by 2.5%, selling 7,450 shares and now owning approximately 293,456 shares valued at $96.78 million.
• Several analysts have upgraded Caterpillar's stock ratings, with UBS Group raising its price target to $357 and Melius Research setting a target of $500.
• Caterpillar announced a quarterly dividend increase to $1.51 per share, reflecting a boost from $1.41, resulting in an annualized yield of 1.4%.

Great Lakes Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT - Free Report) by 2.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 293,456 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 7,450 shares during the quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC owned about 0.06% of Caterpillar worth $96,781,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of CAT. Investment Management Corp VA ADV purchased a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Curat Global LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the first quarter worth $33,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the first quarter worth $33,000. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Mattson Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Caterpillar

In other news, Chairman Donald J. Umpleby III sold 17,168 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $412.87, for a total transaction of $7,088,152.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman directly owned 482,505 shares in the company, valued at $199,211,839.35. This trade represents a 3.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,161 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.70, for a total value of $902,649.70. Following the transaction, the insider owned 8,632 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,605,586.40. This represents a 20.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 21,653 shares of company stock worth $8,943,642 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on CAT shares. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Caterpillar in a report on Monday, July 14th. UBS Group raised shares of Caterpillar from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their price target for the company from $272.00 to $357.00 in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Oppenheimer reduced their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $493.00 to $480.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 29th. DA Davidson increased their price objective on Caterpillar from $331.00 to $388.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Caterpillar from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $457.20.

Caterpillar Trading Up 2.1%

Shares of CAT traded up $8.71 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $431.62. 2,737,694 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,733,555. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52-week low of $267.30 and a 52-week high of $441.15. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $419.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $364.55. The firm has a market cap of $202.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 1.34.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The industrial products company reported $4.72 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.88 by ($0.16). Caterpillar had a return on equity of 48.95% and a net margin of 14.95%.The firm had revenue of $16.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $16.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $5.99 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.