Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) Stake Reduced by Fairfield Bush & CO.

Fairfield Bush & CO. trimmed its stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 6.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,534 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 109 shares during the period. Fairfield Bush & CO.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $556,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Caterpillar in the 4th quarter worth about $2,184,364,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the 4th quarter valued at $353,231,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 50,072.7% during the fourth 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. APG Asset Management N.V. increased its position in Caterpillar by 1,278.6% in the 4th quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 440,641 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $154,367,000 after purchasing an additional 408,678 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi grew its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 17.3% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,166,087 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $782,109,000 after buying an additional 318,891 shares in the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on CAT. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $365.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Citigroup cut their target price on Caterpillar from $430.00 to $320.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on Caterpillar from $452.00 to $414.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com downgraded Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Wedbush upgraded shares of Caterpillar to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Caterpillar currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $361.64.

Caterpillar Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of CAT opened at $290.60 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $329.84 and a 200-day simple moving average of $365.33. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. The stock has a market cap of $138.89 billion, a PE ratio of 13.17, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.21. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1 year low of $267.30 and a 1 year high of $418.50.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.97 by $0.17. Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.65% and a return on equity of 58.18%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Investors of record on Monday, April 21st will be given a dividend of $1.41 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 21st. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.94%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.56%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Caterpillar news, Director Gerald Johnson acquired 100 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $365.57 per share, with a total value of $36,557.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 3,053 shares in the company, valued at $1,116,085.21. The trade was a 3.39 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,425 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $354.70, for a total transaction of $860,147.50. Following the sale, the insider now owns 6,275 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,225,742.50. The trade was a 27.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

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.