Obermeyer Wealth Partners Decreases Stock Position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Obermeyer Wealth Partners decreased its stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT - Free Report) by 86.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 665 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 4,156 shares during the period. Obermeyer Wealth Partners' holdings in Caterpillar were worth $241,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CAT. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,184,364,000. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 69.3% during the 4th 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 purchasing an additional 1,196,861 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the 4th quarter valued at about $353,231,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 50,072.7% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 11.8% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,847,330 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $2,483,937,000 after purchasing an additional 724,477 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company's stock.

Caterpillar Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of CAT stock traded up $3.79 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $353.60. The company had a trading volume of 2,558,499 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,639,240. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12 month low of $267.30 and a 12 month 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $317.42 and a 200-day simple moving average of $354.09. The company has a market cap of $166.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.35.

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 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 company had revenue of $14.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $5.60 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 21st will be issued a $1.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 21st. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.60%. Caterpillar's dividend payout ratio is presently 27.49%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on CAT. DA Davidson upped their target price on Caterpillar from $325.00 to $331.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Caterpillar from $490.00 to $380.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. UBS Group upgraded Caterpillar from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their target price for the company from $272.00 to $357.00 in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley upgraded Caterpillar from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and cut their target price for the company from $300.00 to $283.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Oppenheimer upgraded Caterpillar from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $395.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Six investment 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $375.50.

Insider Activity

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 stock was bought at an average cost of $320.70 per share, with a total value of $120,262.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 6,653 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,133,617.10. The trade was a 5.97% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,425 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $354.70, for a total value of $860,147.50. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 6,275 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,225,742.50. The trade was a 27.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

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.