Palisade Asset Management LLC Sells 48 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Palisade Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 0.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 9,472 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 48 shares during the period. Palisade Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $2,801,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Gilfoyle & Co LLC purchased a new position in Caterpillar during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in Caterpillar in the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the 3rd quarter worth $41,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new stake in Caterpillar in the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, Rational Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Caterpillar during the third quarter worth about $42,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Caterpillar news, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 4,575 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $329.80, for a total value of $1,508,835.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 23,474 shares in the company, valued at $7,741,725.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, Director David Maclennan purchased 350 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $323.37 per share, with a total value of $113,179.50. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 5,238 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,693,812.06. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 4,575 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $329.80, for a total value of $1,508,835.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 23,474 shares in the company, valued at $7,741,725.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CAT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI lowered shares of Caterpillar from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $321.00 to $338.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Caterpillar from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their target price for the company from $293.00 to $350.00 in a report on Friday, April 26th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Caterpillar from $290.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Caterpillar in a report on Thursday, April 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $323.35.

Caterpillar Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of Caterpillar stock traded down $0.50 on Wednesday, hitting $344.50. 2,238,352 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,490,448. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $352.57 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $304.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $168.48 billion, a PE ratio of 15.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 0.83. Caterpillar Inc. has a one year low of $205.60 and a one year high of $382.01.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $5.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.12 by $0.48. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 58.61% and a net margin of 16.79%. The business had revenue of $15.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.07 billion. On average, research analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Stockholders 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 1.51%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 19th. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.48%.

Caterpillar 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.