Patten & Patten Inc. TN Trims Holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Patten & Patten Inc. TN lowered its holdings in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 9.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,913 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 397 shares during the period. Patten & Patten Inc. TN’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $1,434,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in CAT. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Caterpillar in the 4th quarter worth about $147,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the fourth quarter worth approximately $39,000. Advisor Resource Council bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $691,000. Cedar Brook Financial Partners LLC raised its holdings in Caterpillar by 80.5% in the 4th quarter. Cedar Brook Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,928 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $563,000 after acquiring an additional 860 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its position in Caterpillar by 8.6% in the 4th quarter. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 3,161 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $924,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CAT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Caterpillar in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Caterpillar from $338.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $293.00 to $350.00 in a research report on Friday, April 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Caterpillar from $357.00 to $408.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Raymond James initiated coverage on Caterpillar in a research report on Friday, June 28th. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $329.63.

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In other news, insider Lange Bob De sold 21,847 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $356.90, for a total transaction of $7,797,194.30. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 71,115 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,380,943.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Director David Maclennan acquired 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $337.39 per share, with a total value of $168,695.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 5,738 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,935,943.82. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Lange Bob De sold 21,847 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $356.90, for a total transaction of $7,797,194.30. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 71,115 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,380,943.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 24,863 shares of company stock worth $8,837,714 over the last 90 days. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Caterpillar Price Performance

Shares of Caterpillar stock traded up $0.24 during trading on Monday, reaching $347.87. 2,659,152 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,728,706. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52-week low of $223.76 and a 52-week high of $382.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $337.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $334.37. The company has a market capitalization of $170.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.12.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $5.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.12 by $0.48. The business had revenue of $15.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.07 billion. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 58.61% and a net margin of 16.79%. Sell-side analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.61 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Investors of record on Monday, July 22nd will be paid a dividend of $1.41 per share. This is an increase from Caterpillar’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 22nd. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.62%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.48%.

Caterpillar announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, June 12th that permits the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the industrial products company to reacquire up to 12.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.