Rhumbline Advisers Has $282.94 Million Stock Holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Rhumbline Advisers lowered its stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT - Free Report) by 3.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 857,910 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 30,499 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers owned approximately 0.18% of Caterpillar worth $282,939,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Caterpillar during the 4th quarter valued at $2,184,364,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Caterpillar by 43,447.3% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,730,259 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,230,239,000 after buying an additional 3,721,693 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 1,196,861 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Caterpillar during the fourth quarter worth about $353,231,000. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 50,072.7% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 804,770 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $291,938,000 after purchasing an additional 803,166 shares during the period. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on CAT. Baird R W raised Caterpillar from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. UBS Group raised shares of Caterpillar from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $272.00 to $357.00 in a report on Friday, May 16th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Caterpillar from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and reduced their price target for the company from $300.00 to $283.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Caterpillar from $320.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded Caterpillar from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their target price for the company from $309.00 to $395.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $372.92.

Caterpillar Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of CAT stock traded up $0.68 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $350.01. The company had a trading volume of 538,008 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,596,061. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1-year low of $267.30 and a 1-year high of $418.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The firm has a market cap of $164.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a 50 day moving average of $319.90 and a 200 day moving average of $350.35.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT - Get Free Report) last posted 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 return on equity of 58.18% and a net margin of 16.65%. The company had revenue of $14.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.64 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.60 earnings per share. Caterpillar's quarterly revenue was down 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Investors of record on Monday, April 21st were paid a dividend of $1.41 per share. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 21st. Caterpillar's payout ratio is presently 27.49%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director David Maclennan bought 375 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $320.70 per share, for a total transaction of $120,262.50. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 6,653 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,133,617.10. This represents a 5.97% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 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.