New Age Alpha Advisors LLC Sells 7,279 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Key Points

• New Age Alpha Advisors LLC decreased its stake in Caterpillar Inc. by 26.2%, selling 7,279 shares in the first quarter, leaving them with a total of 20,474 shares valued at approximately $6.75 million.
• Several hedge funds have significantly increased their positions in Caterpillar, with GAMMA Investing LLC raising its stake by a staggering 43,447.3% to over 3.7 million shares worth $1.23 billion.
• Caterpillar recently announced a quarterly dividend of $1.51 per share, reflecting an increase from the previous $1.41, and representing an annualized yield of 1.4%.

New Age Alpha Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT - Free Report) by 26.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,474 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 7,279 shares during the quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC's holdings in Caterpillar were worth $6,752,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Pacific Point Advisors LLC bought a new position in Caterpillar during the fourth quarter worth $579,000. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in Caterpillar by 51.5% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,409 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $2,688,000 after purchasing an additional 2,519 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Caterpillar by 72.2% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 88,936 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $32,262,000 after acquiring an additional 37,282 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in Caterpillar in the fourth quarter valued at about $50,000. Finally, Titleist Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 20.0% during the fourth quarter. Titleist Asset Management LLC now owns 3,062 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,111,000 after purchasing an additional 511 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company's stock.

Caterpillar Stock Down 2.5%

CAT stock traded down $10.65 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $417.07. The company had a trading volume of 4,260,195 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,880,540. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1 year low of $267.30 and a 1 year high of $441.15. The company has a market capitalization of $196.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.21, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. The company has a 50 day moving average of $391.99 and a two-hundred day moving average of $355.63.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The industrial products company reported $4.72 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 firm had revenue of $16.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.14 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $5.99 EPS. The business's revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 represents a $6.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. This is a boost from Caterpillar's previous quarterly dividend of $1.41. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 21st. Caterpillar's payout ratio is currently 29.43%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on CAT. Bank of America boosted their price target on Caterpillar from $460.00 to $495.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Caterpillar from $395.00 to $483.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Melius Research raised Caterpillar from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and set a $500.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Caterpillar from $395.00 to $422.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, June 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Caterpillar from $475.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $444.00.

About Caterpillar

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.