Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) Position Lessened by Snowden Capital Advisors LLC

Snowden Capital Advisors LLC lowered its position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 33.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 16,525 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 8,278 shares during the quarter. Snowden Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $5,995,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the 4th quarter valued at $2,184,364,000. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in Caterpillar by 69.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,924,054 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,060,730,000 after buying an additional 1,196,861 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Caterpillar during the fourth quarter valued at about $353,231,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake 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 worth $291,938,000 after acquiring an additional 803,166 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 724,477 shares during the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,425 shares of Caterpillar 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 6,275 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,225,742.50. The trade was a 27.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director David Maclennan purchased 375 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $320.70 per share, with a total value of $120,262.50. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 6,653 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,133,617.10. This represents a 5.97% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Caterpillar Price Performance

Shares of CAT stock opened at $349.51 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $164.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12 month low of $267.30 and a 12 month high of $418.50. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $317.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $354.32.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last posted its quarterly 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). The business had revenue of $14.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.64 billion. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 58.18% and a net margin of 16.65%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $5.60 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 21st will be issued a dividend of $1.41 per share. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 21st. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is 27.49%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on CAT. Robert W. Baird raised Caterpillar from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $309.00 to $395.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Baird R W raised shares of Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Raymond James upgraded shares of Caterpillar from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $452.00 to $414.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Caterpillar from $490.00 to $380.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $377.83.

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.