Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) Shares Sold by Crestmont Private Wealth LLC

Crestmont Private Wealth LLC reduced its position in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 14.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 823 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 141 shares during the quarter. Crestmont Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $299,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in Caterpillar by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 635,750 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $231,686,000 after acquiring an additional 10,212 shares during the period. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC now owns 116,566 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $45,591,000 after purchasing an additional 6,212 shares during the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI lifted its stake in Caterpillar by 43.0% during the third quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 13,902 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,437,000 after purchasing an additional 4,181 shares during the last quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network bought a new stake in Caterpillar during the third quarter worth approximately $204,000. Finally, Inspire Advisors LLC grew its position in Caterpillar by 25.8% in the third quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 8,266 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,233,000 after buying an additional 1,694 shares during the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Caterpillar

In other news, Director Gerald Johnson bought 100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $398.57 per share, with a total value of $39,857.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,953 shares in the company, valued at $1,176,977.21. This represents a 3.51 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 968 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $380.98, for a total value of $368,788.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,686 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $642,332.28. This represents a 36.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 23,868 shares of company stock worth $9,679,489 over the last three months. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Caterpillar Stock Up 2.3 %

Shares of CAT stock opened at $370.79 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $179.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.19, a PEG ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.40. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $381.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $366.20. Caterpillar Inc. has a twelve month low of $276.94 and a twelve month high of $418.50.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.17 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.33 by ($0.16). Caterpillar had a return on equity of 59.09% and a net margin of 16.26%. The firm had revenue of $16.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.37 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.52 earnings per share. Caterpillar’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.68 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be given a $1.41 dividend. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 21st. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.15%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Caterpillar from $299.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Citigroup dropped their price target on Caterpillar from $460.00 to $420.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Caterpillar from an “underperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $365.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $455.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $381.67.

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.