ING Groep NV Sells 100,829 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Key Points

• ING Groep NV significantly decreased its holdings in Caterpillar Inc. by 96.2% in the 1st quarter, resulting in a value of approximately $1.30 million.
• Caterpillar Inc. recently increased its quarterly dividend to $1.51 per share, up from $1.41, with a dividend yield now at 1.5%.
• Wall Street analysts have shown confidence in Caterpillar, with a majority of recommendations as "buy", leading to a consensus target price of $444.00.

ING Groep NV decreased its holdings in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT - Free Report) by 96.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,931 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 100,829 shares during the period. ING Groep NV's holdings in Caterpillar were worth $1,296,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Caterpillar by 11.8% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,847,330 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,483,937,000 after acquiring an additional 724,477 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in Caterpillar by 8.6% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,940,391 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,429,416,000 after buying an additional 312,878 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Caterpillar by 43,447.3% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,730,259 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,230,239,000 after purchasing an additional 3,721,693 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,181,535 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,154,174,000 after acquiring an additional 82,579 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 69.3% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,924,054 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,060,730,000 after purchasing an additional 1,196,861 shares during the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on CAT. Melius raised shares of Caterpillar from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $500.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $331.00 to $388.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $395.00 to $422.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, June 20th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Caterpillar from $395.00 to $483.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised Caterpillar from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and dropped their price target for the company from $300.00 to $283.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $444.00.

Caterpillar Trading Down 1.7%

Caterpillar stock traded down $7.02 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $409.50. 594,607 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,722,364. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $393.37 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $355.11. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12 month low of $267.30 and a 12 month high of $441.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $191.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.84, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.40.

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

Caterpillar Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 21st will be issued a $1.51 dividend. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 21st. This is an increase from Caterpillar's previous quarterly dividend of $1.41. Caterpillar's payout ratio is 30.72%.

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.