Prosperitas Financial LLC Lowers Stock Position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Prosperitas Financial LLC lowered its position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 10.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,829 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 323 shares during the period. Prosperitas Financial LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $837,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Caterpillar by 130,632.5% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 9,784,017 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,343,859,000 after buying an additional 9,776,533 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Caterpillar by 1.6% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,962,809 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,900,847,000 after buying an additional 111,384 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in Caterpillar by 0.7% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,830,849 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,864,823,000 after buying an additional 47,258 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Caterpillar by 14.9% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,038,207 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,648,431,000 after buying an additional 781,111 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in Caterpillar by 1.7% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,440,783 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $892,724,000 after buying an additional 92,360 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of CAT traded down $4.71 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $359.20. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 683,947 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,410,991. The stock has a market cap of $179.38 billion, a PE ratio of 17.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52 week low of $204.04 and a 52 week high of $382.01. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $343.80 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $295.74.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 5th. The industrial products company reported $5.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.76 by $0.47. The firm had revenue of $17.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.06 billion. Caterpillar had a net margin of 15.41% and a return on equity of 56.99%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.86 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Investors of record on Monday, April 22nd will be paid a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 19th. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is 25.82%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on CAT. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Caterpillar in a report on Monday, January 8th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $270.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $255.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Evercore ISI downgraded shares of Caterpillar from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $321.00 to $338.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $385.00 to $435.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $300.00 to $338.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Caterpillar has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $307.56.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.04, for a total value of $3,000,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 67,317 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,197,792.68. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.04, for a total value of $3,000,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 67,317 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,197,792.68. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Lange Bob De sold 21,194 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $325.52, for a total transaction of $6,899,070.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 61,092 shares in the company, valued at $19,886,667.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 45,769 shares of company stock valued at $14,509,306 over the last three months. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Caterpillar

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.