Vantage Investment Partners LLC Trims Stock Position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Vantage Investment Partners LLC lessened its holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 5.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 34,461 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,828 shares during the period. Vantage Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $12,501,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Albion Financial Group UT grew its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 334.8% in the fourth quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC lifted its holdings in Caterpillar by 42.9% during the 3rd quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC now owns 100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 130.0% in the fourth quarter. Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC now owns 115 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Daniel M. Dickinson sold 1,300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $418.00, for a total transaction of $543,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,079,968. This represents a 20.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 968 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were 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 directly owns 1,686 shares in the company, valued at $642,332.28. This represents a 36.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 33,868 shares of company stock valued at $13,480,389. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

Shares of Caterpillar stock opened at $394.60 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $190.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.29, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.13. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $381.07 and its 200-day simple moving average is $369.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 0.86. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12 month low of $297.45 and a 12 month high of $418.50.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.17 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 business had revenue of $16.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.37 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $5.52 earnings per share. Caterpillar’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be paid a $1.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 21st. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.43%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.15%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on CAT. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Caterpillar from $455.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Caterpillar from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $376.00 to $434.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $299.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Evercore ISI raised Caterpillar from an “underperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $365.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $380.60.

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.