Cutler Investment Counsel LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Cutler Investment Counsel LLC cut its holdings in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 1.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 79,051 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,379 shares during the period. Caterpillar comprises approximately 3.3% of Cutler Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Cutler Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $23,373,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Caterpillar by 130,632.5% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 9,784,017 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,343,859,000 after buying an additional 9,776,533 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,175,255,000. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board bought a new stake in Caterpillar in the 1st quarter valued at $433,134,000. Imprint Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Caterpillar by 24,982.9% during the 2nd quarter. Imprint Wealth LLC now owns 1,538,084 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $153,808,000 after purchasing an additional 1,531,952 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Caterpillar by 28,603.5% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,494,018 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,417,360,000 after purchasing an additional 1,488,813 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on CAT shares. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $255.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Caterpillar from $210.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Evercore ISI lowered Caterpillar from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $321.00 to $338.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on Caterpillar from $216.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 21st. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Caterpillar from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $307.56.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director David Maclennan acquired 350 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $323.37 per share, for a total transaction of $113,179.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,238 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,693,812.06. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, Director David Maclennan acquired 350 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $323.37 per share, for a total transaction of $113,179.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,238 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,693,812.06. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Lange Bob De sold 21,194 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $325.52, for a total value of $6,899,070.88. Following 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 45,769 shares of company stock worth $14,509,306 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Price Performance

Shares of CAT traded down $1.33 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $355.30. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,514,991 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,422,017. Caterpillar Inc. has a one year low of $204.04 and a one year high of $382.01. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $345.95 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $297.21. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $177.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.17.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The industrial products company reported $5.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.76 by $0.47. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 56.99% and a net margin of 15.41%. The company had revenue of $17.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.06 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.86 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Investors of record on Monday, April 22nd will be given a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 19th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.46%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.82%.

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.