Caterpillar Inc. $CAT Shares Sold by Martingale Asset Management L P

Key Points

• Martingale Asset Management L P reduced its stake in Caterpillar Inc. by 15.9%, owning 5,157 shares worth approximately $1.7 million following the sale of 976 shares.
• Insider sales included Jason Kaiser selling 2,161 shares for around $902,649 and Susan C. Schwab selling 2,324 shares for approximately $952,840.
• Analysts have raised their price targets for Caterpillar, with Citigroup setting a new target of $500 and multiple firms giving it a buy or outperform rating.

Martingale Asset Management L P decreased its stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT - Free Report) by 15.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,157 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 976 shares during the quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P's holdings in Caterpillar were worth $1,701,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. PGIM Custom Harvest LLC increased its stake in Caterpillar by 7.7% during the 1st quarter. PGIM Custom Harvest LLC now owns 655 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $216,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Candriam S.C.A. increased its stake in Caterpillar by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 40,261 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $13,278,000 after purchasing an additional 350 shares in the last quarter. Sandhill Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Caterpillar by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Sandhill Capital Partners LLC now owns 16,071 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $5,300,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC lifted its stake in Caterpillar by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 7,539 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $2,486,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the period. Finally, Frisch Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 11.9% in the 1st quarter. Frisch Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,640 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $541,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on CAT shares. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $395.00 to $483.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Caterpillar from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $476.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $331.00 to $388.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Melius raised shares of Caterpillar from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $500.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Melius Research upgraded Caterpillar from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and set a $500.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $450.87.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

Shares of CAT traded up $1.91 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $433.17. The stock had a trading volume of 1,970,924 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,771,515. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 1.34. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $410.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $359.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $202.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.03, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.40. Caterpillar Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $267.30 and a fifty-two week high of $441.15.

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

Caterpillar Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 21st were given 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 21st. Caterpillar's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.72%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Caterpillar news, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,161 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.70, for a total transaction of $902,649.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 8,632 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,605,586.40. This represents a 20.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Susan C. Schwab sold 2,324 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $410.00, for a total transaction of $952,840.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 6,917 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,835,970. This represents a 25.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

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.