NewEdge Advisors LLC Sells 7,551 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

NewEdge Advisors LLC reduced its position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 3.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 185,896 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 7,551 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $67,435,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of CAT. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,184,364,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the 4th quarter valued at $353,231,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in Caterpillar by 50,072.7% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 804,770 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $291,938,000 after purchasing an additional 803,166 shares during the period. APG Asset Management N.V. grew its stake in shares of 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 valued at $154,367,000 after buying an additional 408,678 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi boosted its holdings in Caterpillar by 17.3% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 2,166,087 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $782,109,000 after acquiring an additional 318,891 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In other news, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,425 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $354.70, for a total transaction of $860,147.50. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 6,275 shares in the company, valued at $2,225,742.50. This represents a 27.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $380.09, for a total transaction of $3,800,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 45,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,173,226.38. This trade represents a 18.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Stock Down 1.6 %

Caterpillar stock opened at $293.37 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. The company has a market capitalization of $140.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.21. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $331.31 and a 200-day moving average price of $365.85. Caterpillar Inc. has a twelve month low of $267.30 and a twelve month high of $418.50.

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

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Investors of record on Monday, April 21st will be issued a $1.41 dividend. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 21st. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.56%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wedbush raised shares of Caterpillar to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $430.00 to $320.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. DA Davidson raised their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $350.00 to $357.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. UBS Group raised Caterpillar from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $355.00 to $385.00 in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Raymond James upgraded Caterpillar from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $365.87.

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.