First Horizon Advisors Inc. Sells 165 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

First Horizon Advisors Inc. cut its position in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 8,399 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 165 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $3,285,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Commerce Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 8.8% in the 3rd quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 142,698 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $55,812,000 after acquiring an additional 11,498 shares during the last quarter. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Caterpillar in the third quarter worth $7,288,000. West Family Investments Inc. grew its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 10.5% during the third quarter. West Family Investments Inc. now owns 1,701 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $665,000 after buying an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 1.8% in the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 413,719 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $161,814,000 after buying an additional 7,118 shares during the period. Finally, B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the 3rd quarter valued at about $54,997,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CAT opened at $381.44 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12-month low of $241.81 and a 12-month high of $418.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $184.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.10. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $383.83 and a 200 day moving average of $355.03.

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

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 21st were issued a dividend of $1.41 per share. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.48%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 21st. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In other Caterpillar news, Director Gerald Johnson bought 100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $338.59 per share, for a total transaction of $33,859.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 2,842 shares in the company, valued at approximately $962,272.78. The trade was a 3.65 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Lange Bob De sold 12,657 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $410.25, for a total transaction of $5,192,534.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 71,107 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,171,646.75. This represents a 15.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 20,774 shares of company stock worth $8,233,034 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on CAT shares. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Caterpillar from $376.00 to $434.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. StockNews.com cut shares of Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Evercore ISI downgraded Caterpillar from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $321.00 to $365.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut Caterpillar from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $349.00 to $332.00 in a report on Monday, October 14th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $365.33.

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.