Rothschild Investment LLC Decreases Stake in Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Key Points

• Rothschild Investment LLC cut its Caterpillar stake by 18.4% in the fourth quarter, selling 5,031 shares and ending with 22,353 shares valued at about $12.8 million.
• Caterpillar reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $5.54 and revenue of $17.42 billion, both ahead of analyst estimates, while revenue rose 22.2% year over year.
• The company remains well followed by institutions and analysts: hedge funds own about 70.98% of the stock, and Wall Street’s consensus rating is Moderate Buy with an average target price of $923.14.

Rothschild Investment LLC lowered its position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT - Free Report) by 18.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 22,353 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 5,031 shares during the period. Rothschild Investment LLC's holdings in Caterpillar were worth $12,805,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 46,385,185 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $26,572,681,000 after acquiring an additional 442,164 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,610,182 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $6,072,572,000 after acquiring an additional 94,524 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 9,493,266 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $5,438,408,000 after acquiring an additional 54,069 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 3,949.8% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,228,058 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,494,568,000 after acquiring an additional 5,098,964 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,802,068 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,337,007,000 after acquiring an additional 58,993 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company's stock.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

Shares of Caterpillar stock opened at $887.04 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $807.51 and a 200-day simple moving average of $701.11. The company has a market cap of $408.56 billion, a PE ratio of 44.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.63. Caterpillar Inc. has a one year low of $339.50 and a one year high of $931.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 1.35.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.65 by $0.89. The firm had revenue of $17.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $16.53 billion. Caterpillar had a net margin of 13.33% and a return on equity of 48.21%. The firm's revenue was up 22.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $4.25 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 24.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 19th. Investors of record on Monday, April 20th were issued a $1.51 dividend. This represents a $6.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 20th. Caterpillar's dividend payout ratio is 30.06%.

Insider Transactions at Caterpillar

In other news, insider Jason Kaiser sold 5,642 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $883.03, for a total value of $4,982,055.26. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 9,594 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,471,789.82. This represents a 37.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 15,674 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $918.71, for a total transaction of $14,399,860.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 52,935 shares in the company, valued at $48,631,913.85. The trade was a 22.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 98,273 shares of company stock valued at $89,439,960 over the last three months. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on CAT. Daiwa Securities Group lifted their price target on Caterpillar from $790.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Oppenheimer set a $980.00 price target on Caterpillar and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Rothschild & Co Redburn lifted their price target on Caterpillar from $700.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Morgan Stanley set a $915.00 price target on Caterpillar and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $930.00 to $989.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $923.14.

Caterpillar Company Profile

Caterpillar Inc is a global manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines and locomotives. The company's product portfolio includes earthmoving machines such as excavators, bulldozers, wheel loaders and off‑highway trucks, as well as a range of power generation products including generator sets and power systems for industrial and commercial use. Caterpillar serves customers across heavy construction, mining, energy, transportation and related industries with both equipment and integrated technology solutions.

In addition to manufacturing, Caterpillar provides a broad range of aftermarket parts and support services, including maintenance, repair, remanufacturing and fleet management tools.

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