Richard C. Young & CO. LTD. Trims Stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Richard C. Young & CO. LTD. cut its position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT - Free Report) by 2.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 54,567 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 1,188 shares during the quarter. Caterpillar comprises 1.9% of Richard C. Young & CO. LTD.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Richard C. Young & CO. LTD.'s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $17,996,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Investment Management Corp VA ADV purchased a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Curat Global LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the 1st quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the 1st quarter valued at $33,000. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Caterpillar

In other Caterpillar news, Director David Maclennan purchased 375 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were bought at an average price of $320.70 per share, with a total value of $120,262.50. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 6,653 shares in the company, valued at $2,133,617.10. This trade represents a 5.97% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on CAT. Citigroup restated a "buy" rating and set a $420.00 price objective (up previously from $370.00) on shares of Caterpillar in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. UBS Group raised shares of Caterpillar from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $272.00 to $357.00 in a report on Friday, May 16th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $375.00 to $373.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $395.00 to $483.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $395.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Seven equities research 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 company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Caterpillar presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $412.33.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

Shares of CAT traded down $4.19 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $413.88. 2,525,098 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,517,427. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $367.85 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $349.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 1.32. The stock has a market cap of $194.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.38. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1 year low of $267.30 and a 1 year high of $419.90.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $4.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $4.35 by ($0.10). Caterpillar had a return on equity of 53.77% and a net margin of 15.71%. The firm had revenue of $14.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.64 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $5.60 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Investors of record on Monday, July 21st will be paid a dividend of $1.51 per share. This is an increase from Caterpillar's previous quarterly dividend of $1.41. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 21st. This represents a $6.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.46%. Caterpillar's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.