Stifel Financial Corp Decreases Stock Holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Stifel Financial Corp trimmed its position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 665,638 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 5,356 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $260,360,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CAT. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC increased its position in Caterpillar by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC now owns 116,566 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $45,591,000 after purchasing an additional 6,212 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI increased its position in Caterpillar by 43.0% during the 3rd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 13,902 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,437,000 after purchasing an additional 4,181 shares during the period. First Affirmative Financial Network purchased a new position in Caterpillar during the 3rd quarter valued at $204,000. Inspire Advisors LLC increased its position in Caterpillar by 25.8% during the 3rd quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 8,266 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,233,000 after purchasing an additional 1,694 shares during the period. Finally, Jackson Square Capital LLC increased its position in Caterpillar by 33.7% during the 3rd quarter. Jackson Square Capital LLC now owns 16,581 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $6,485,000 after purchasing an additional 4,182 shares during the period. 70.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Caterpillar from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $349.00 to $332.00 in a research report on Monday, October 14th. StockNews.com cut shares of Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Evercore ISI cut shares of Caterpillar from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $321.00 to $365.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $285.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $365.33.

Caterpillar Stock Up 0.1 %

NYSE CAT opened at $399.51 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.40. The company has a market capitalization of $192.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.10. Caterpillar Inc. has a one year low of $253.78 and a one year high of $418.50. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $392.68 and a 200-day moving average price of $358.68.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.33 by ($0.16). The company had revenue of $16.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.37 billion. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 59.09% and a net margin of 16.26%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $5.52 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 21st were paid a dividend of $1.41 per share. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 21st. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.15%.

Insider Activity

In other Caterpillar news, insider Lange Bob De sold 12,657 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $410.25, for a total value of $5,192,534.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 71,107 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,171,646.75. The trade was a 15.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 968 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $380.98, for a total transaction of $368,788.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,686 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $642,332.28. This represents a 36.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 23,868 shares of company stock valued at $9,679,489. 0.29% of the stock is currently 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.