USA Financial Formulas Reduces Stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

USA Financial Formulas reduced its position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 10.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 771 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 91 shares during the period. USA Financial Formulas’ holdings in Caterpillar were worth $280,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CAT. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 39,534.0% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,136,667 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $8,356,930,000 after buying an additional 2,131,276 shares during the last quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd lifted its position in Caterpillar by 3,319.7% during the second quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 275,011 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $91,606,000 after purchasing an additional 266,969 shares in the last quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI lifted its position in Caterpillar by 4,018.6% during the third quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 255,355 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $99,874,000 after purchasing an additional 249,155 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Caterpillar by 2.3% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 8,952,632 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,501,554,000 after purchasing an additional 205,012 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its position in Caterpillar by 34.4% during the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 782,133 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $305,908,000 after purchasing an additional 200,210 shares in the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Gerald Johnson acquired 100 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $398.57 per share, with a total value of $39,857.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 2,953 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,176,977.21. The trade was a 3.51 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 968 shares of the business’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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,686 shares in the company, valued at $642,332.28. The trade was a 36.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 23,868 shares of company stock valued at $9,679,489 over the last ninety days. 0.29% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CAT has been the topic of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Caterpillar from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Evercore ISI upgraded Caterpillar from an “underperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $365.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday. Morgan Stanley cut Caterpillar from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $349.00 to $332.00 in a report on Monday, October 14th. UBS Group raised their price target on Caterpillar from $285.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on Caterpillar from $376.00 to $434.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $380.60.

Caterpillar Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of CAT stock opened at $380.85 on Friday. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12-month low of $276.94 and a 12-month high of $418.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $380.24 and its 200-day moving average price is $366.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $183.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.13.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $16.37 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $5.52 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be paid a dividend of $1.41 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 21st. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.48%. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is currently 26.15%.

Caterpillar 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.