Manning & Napier Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT - Free Report) by 9.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 102,629 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 10,866 shares during the quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC's holdings in Caterpillar were worth $33,847,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 471 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $171,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Carrera Capital Advisors raised its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Carrera Capital Advisors now owns 1,238 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $449,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. BBR Partners LLC increased its position in Caterpillar by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. BBR Partners LLC now owns 4,162 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,510,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. McIlrath & Eck LLC increased its position in Caterpillar by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 962 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $349,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its position in Caterpillar by 20.3% in the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 184 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of analysts recently commented on CAT shares. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on Caterpillar from $325.00 to $331.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Caterpillar from $490.00 to $380.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Caterpillar from $395.00 to $422.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, June 20th. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on Caterpillar from $375.00 to $373.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Baird R W upgraded Caterpillar from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Six investment 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $380.83.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on CAT
Insider Transactions at Caterpillar
In other Caterpillar news, Director David Maclennan purchased 375 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $320.70 per share, with a total value of $120,262.50. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 6,653 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,133,617.10. The trade was a 5.97% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.
Caterpillar Trading Down 0.4%
Shares of Caterpillar stock traded down $1.39 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $371.63. 1,737,411 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,535,173. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $336.93 and its 200 day moving average price is $346.43. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1-year low of $267.30 and a 1-year high of $418.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $175.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.37.
Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $4.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.35 by ($0.10). Caterpillar had a net margin of 15.71% and a return on equity of 53.77%. The business had revenue of $14.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $5.60 earnings per share. Caterpillar's revenue for the quarter was down 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Caterpillar Increases Dividend
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 21st will be paid a dividend of $1.51 per share. This is a boost from Caterpillar's previous quarterly dividend of $1.41. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 21st. Caterpillar's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.49%.
About Caterpillar
(
Free Report)
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.
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