Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Sells 14,836 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lessened its position in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT - Free Report) by 48.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,496 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 14,836 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund's holdings in Caterpillar were worth $5,111,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new position in Caterpillar in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Investment Management Corp VA ADV purchased a new stake in Caterpillar during the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company's stock.

Caterpillar Trading Up 0.5%

CAT stock traded up $1.96 during trading on Monday, reaching $386.67. The company had a trading volume of 417,348 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,512,915. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.77. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52 week low of $267.30 and a 52 week high of $418.50. The business has a 50 day moving average of $342.13 and a 200 day moving average of $345.93. The company has a market cap of $182.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.84, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.37.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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 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 15.71% and a return on equity of 53.77%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $5.60 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 21st will be paid a dividend of $1.51 per share. This is an increase from Caterpillar's previous quarterly dividend of $1.41. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 21st. This represents a $6.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.56%. Caterpillar's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.49%.

Insider Transactions at Caterpillar

In related news, Director David Maclennan acquired 375 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $320.70 per share, with a total value of $120,262.50. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 6,653 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,133,617.10. This trade represents a 5.97% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on CAT. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Caterpillar from $395.00 to $422.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, June 20th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $335.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Baird R W upgraded shares of Caterpillar from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Caterpillar from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and cut their price target for the company from $300.00 to $283.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, UBS Group raised Caterpillar from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $272.00 to $357.00 in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Six 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $380.83.

Caterpillar Company 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.