New York State Teachers Retirement System Sells 26,943 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

New York State Teachers Retirement System cut its holdings in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT - Free Report) by 6.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 419,967 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 26,943 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned approximately 0.09% of Caterpillar worth $138,505,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of CAT. Pacific Point Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Caterpillar during the fourth quarter valued at about $579,000. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in Caterpillar by 51.5% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,409 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $2,688,000 after acquiring an additional 2,519 shares during the period. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Flputnam Investment Management Co. increased its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co. now owns 16,328 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $5,923,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SVB Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the fourth quarter worth about $2,531,000. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In other Caterpillar news, Director David Maclennan bought 375 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $320.70 per share, for a total transaction of $120,262.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,653 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,133,617.10. This represents a 5.97% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on CAT shares. Oppenheimer raised Caterpillar from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $395.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. DA Davidson lifted their target price on Caterpillar from $325.00 to $331.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Caterpillar from $490.00 to $380.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Caterpillar from $395.00 to $422.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, June 20th. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their target price on Caterpillar from $375.00 to $373.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 19th. Six equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Caterpillar currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $380.83.

Caterpillar Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of NYSE CAT opened at $385.18 on Monday. The business's 50 day moving average is $342.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $345.93. 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 1-year low of $267.30 and a 1-year high of $418.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $181.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.77, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.37.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $14.64 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $5.60 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current 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 given a dividend of $1.51 per share. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.57%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 21st. This is a positive change from Caterpillar's previous quarterly dividend of $1.41. Caterpillar's payout ratio is 27.49%.

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.

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