National Pension Service Sells 46,248 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

National Pension Service decreased its holdings in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 4.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 979,008 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 46,248 shares during the period. National Pension Service’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $560,844,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Plancorp LLC increased its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Plancorp LLC now owns 2,777 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,591,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. BlueStem Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. BlueStem Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,192 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $683,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. KDT Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. KDT Advisors LLC now owns 657 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $376,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. CFO4Life Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. CFO4Life Group LLC now owns 626 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $359,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sandy Cove Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Sandy Cove Advisors LLC now owns 1,279 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $733,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CAT has been the subject of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley set a $915.00 price target on shares of Caterpillar and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $769.00 to $879.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $940.00 to $1,165.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Oppenheimer set a $980.00 price target on shares of Caterpillar and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Caterpillar in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $923.14.

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In other Caterpillar news, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 360 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $906.00, for a total transaction of $326,160.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 530 shares in the company, valued at approximately $480,180. The trade was a 40.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Lange Bob De sold 24,222 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $922.92, for a total transaction of $22,354,968.24. Following the sale, the insider owned 86,029 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $79,397,884.68. This represents a 21.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 98,273 shares of company stock worth $89,439,960. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Caterpillar Trading Down 2.5%

Shares of CAT stock opened at $887.04 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $408.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.63. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $807.51 and its 200 day moving average is $701.11. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12-month low of $339.50 and a 12-month high of $931.35.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.65 by $0.89. The business had revenue of $17.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.53 billion. Caterpillar had a net margin of 13.33% and a return on equity of 48.21%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 22.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $4.25 EPS. Research analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 24.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 20th were paid a dividend of $1.51 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 20th. This represents a $6.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is currently 30.06%.

Caterpillar Profile

Caterpillar Inc is a global manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines and locomotives. The company’s product portfolio includes earthmoving machines such as excavators, bulldozers, wheel loaders and off‑highway trucks, as well as a range of power generation products including generator sets and power systems for industrial and commercial use. Caterpillar serves customers across heavy construction, mining, energy, transportation and related industries with both equipment and integrated technology solutions.

In addition to manufacturing, Caterpillar provides a broad range of aftermarket parts and support services, including maintenance, repair, remanufacturing and fleet management tools.