Secure Asset Management LLC Cuts Position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Secure Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 22.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,040 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 298 shares during the period. Secure Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $377,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CAT. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Caterpillar by 39.1% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 255,605 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $84,976,000 after acquiring an additional 71,788 shares during the last quarter. Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C acquired a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the second quarter worth $651,000. MBB Public Markets I LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 2,195.1% during the 2nd quarter. MBB Public Markets I LLC now owns 35,368 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $11,781,000 after purchasing an additional 33,827 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 2.6% in the second quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 178,960 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $59,612,000 after buying an additional 4,465 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 2.0% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,862,443 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,286,582,000 after buying an additional 75,973 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Stock Up 0.4 %

Caterpillar stock opened at $407.95 on Friday. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12 month low of $293.13 and a 12 month high of $418.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $196.96 billion, a PE ratio of 18.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $380.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $368.65.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last posted 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 company had revenue of $16.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.37 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $5.52 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be issued a $1.41 dividend. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.38%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 21st. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is 26.15%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Caterpillar news, insider Cheryl H. Johnson sold 2,664 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $378.84, for a total transaction of $1,009,229.76. Following the sale, the insider now owns 12,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,906,356.84. The trade was a 17.06 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Lange Bob De sold 12,657 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $410.25, for a total transaction of $5,192,534.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 71,107 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,171,646.75. This trade represents a 15.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 33,868 shares of company stock worth $13,480,389. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Caterpillar from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Caterpillar from $460.00 to $420.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. StockNews.com lowered Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Caterpillar from an “underperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $365.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $455.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $380.60.

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.