Caterpillar Inc. $CAT Shares Sold by Johnson Financial Group Inc.

Johnson Financial Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 6.8% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 13,032 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 954 shares during the quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $9,233,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Caterpillar by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 22,420 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $12,844,000 after acquiring an additional 604 shares in the last quarter. Juno Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Caterpillar in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $877,000. DSG Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Caterpillar in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,226,000. Cornerstone Planning LLC acquired a new stake in Caterpillar during the fourth quarter worth approximately $4,517,000. Finally, Ticino Wealth purchased a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,488,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on CAT. Zacks Research cut shares of Caterpillar from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Bank of America raised their price objective on Caterpillar from $930.00 to $989.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $900.00 target price on shares of Caterpillar in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Morgan Stanley set a $915.00 target price on Caterpillar and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Caterpillar from $1,125.00 to $1,165.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Caterpillar has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $980.57.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Caterpillar news, insider Lange Bob De sold 24,222 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $922.92, for a total transaction of $22,354,968.24. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 86,029 shares in the company, valued at approximately $79,397,884.68. The trade was a 21.97% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Denise C. Johnson sold 12,605 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $907.91, for a total transaction of $11,444,205.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 49,825 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $45,236,615.75. This represents a 20.19% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 95,773 shares of company stock valued at $87,642,635 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Price Performance

Shares of CAT opened at $864.72 on Tuesday. 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 Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $405.46 and a fifty-two week high of $1,073.46. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $930.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $796.99. The company has a market capitalization of $398.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.57.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.54 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.65 by $0.89. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 48.21% and a net margin of 13.33%.The firm had revenue of $17.41 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.53 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $4.25 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 22.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 24.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 20th will be issued a $1.63 dividend. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. This is an increase from Caterpillar’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.51. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 20th. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is 30.06%.

Caterpillar 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.