True North Advisors LLC Has $1.72 Million Position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

True North Advisors LLC lessened its stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 4.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,227 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 228 shares during the period. True North Advisors LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $1,724,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 11.8% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,847,330 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,483,937,000 after purchasing an additional 724,477 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 8.6% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,940,391 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,429,416,000 after purchasing an additional 312,878 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 43,447.3% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,730,259 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,230,239,000 after purchasing an additional 3,721,693 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Caterpillar by 0.5% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,304,448 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,089,798,000 after buying an additional 15,347 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in Caterpillar by 9.1% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,229,080 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,064,951,000 after buying an additional 268,300 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE CAT opened at $416.43 on Friday. Caterpillar Inc. has a one year low of $267.30 and a one year high of $441.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $393.37 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $355.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $195.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.18, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 1.40.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The industrial products company reported $4.72 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.88 by ($0.16). Caterpillar had a net margin of 14.95% and a return on equity of 48.95%. The business had revenue of $16.57 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $5.99 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 21st will be issued a $1.51 dividend. This is a positive change from Caterpillar’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.41. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 21st. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.72%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CAT has been the subject of several research reports. Baird R W upgraded shares of Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Melius upgraded shares of Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $500.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Melius Research raised shares of Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $500.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $460.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $383.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $444.00.

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.