Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI Has $56.17 Million Holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI lessened its position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT - Free Report) by 39.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 154,835 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 100,520 shares during the quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI's holdings in Caterpillar were worth $56,168,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Caterpillar by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 46,809,540 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $16,980,629,000 after purchasing an additional 284,366 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Caterpillar by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,449,770 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $3,790,841,000 after purchasing an additional 236,315 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in Caterpillar by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 9,081,775 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $3,294,505,000 after purchasing an additional 129,143 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Caterpillar by 11.8% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,847,330 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,483,937,000 after acquiring an additional 724,477 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Caterpillar in the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,184,364,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Caterpillar

In other news, Director David Maclennan bought 375 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $320.70 per share, with a total value of $120,262.50. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 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 acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Caterpillar Price Performance

Shares of CAT stock traded up $2.52 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $345.03. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,174,058 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,641,296. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1-year low of $267.30 and a 1-year high of $418.50. The company has a market cap of $162.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.63, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.42. The firm's 50-day moving average is $318.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $353.46.

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

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 21st were issued a $1.41 dividend. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 21st. Caterpillar's payout ratio is 27.49%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on CAT. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $375.00 to $373.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a report on Monday. Baird R W raised shares of Caterpillar from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Wedbush raised shares of Caterpillar to an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $490.00 to $380.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of Caterpillar from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $272.00 to $357.00 in a report on Friday, May 16th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $375.33.

Caterpillar Company 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.