Yousif Capital Management LLC Trims Stock Position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Yousif Capital Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT - Free Report) by 6.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 86,180 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 6,330 shares during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC's holdings in Caterpillar were worth $28,422,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of CAT. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 38.3% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,218 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $805,000 after purchasing an additional 614 shares during the period. Victrix Investment Advisors purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,090,000. Braun Stacey Associates Inc. increased its position in shares of Caterpillar by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Braun Stacey Associates Inc. now owns 34,837 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $12,637,000 after acquiring an additional 963 shares during the period. Strategic Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 14.6% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 5,724 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $2,076,000 after buying an additional 730 shares during the period. Finally, MFG Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Caterpillar in the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,308,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company's stock.

Caterpillar Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of CAT traded up $0.63 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $358.70. 1,892,107 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,593,118. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 0.89. Caterpillar Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $267.30 and a fifty-two week high of $418.50. The business has a 50-day moving average of $321.20 and a 200-day moving average of $349.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $168.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.37.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $4.25 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $4.35 by ($0.10). The business had revenue of $14.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.64 billion. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 58.18% and a net margin of 16.65%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $5.60 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Investors of record on Monday, April 21st were paid a $1.41 dividend. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 21st. Caterpillar's dividend payout ratio is currently 27.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In other Caterpillar news, Director David Maclennan purchased 375 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $320.70 per share, with a total value of $120,262.50. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 6,653 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,133,617.10. The trade was a 5.97% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CAT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $335.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Robert W. Baird upgraded Caterpillar from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $309.00 to $395.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. DA Davidson upped their price objective on Caterpillar from $325.00 to $331.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Caterpillar from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $300.00 to $283.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Caterpillar from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $372.92.

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.