BLB&B Advisors LLC Sells 438 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

BLB&B Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 4.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 10,506 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 438 shares during the quarter. BLB&B Advisors LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $3,811,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. CWM LLC raised its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 11.8% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 77,811 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $30,433,000 after acquiring an additional 8,212 shares in the last quarter. LifePro Asset Management bought a new position in Caterpillar during the third quarter valued at $774,000. Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the 3rd quarter worth about $570,000. Hudson Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Caterpillar by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Hudson Capital Management LLC now owns 10,829 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,235,000 after buying an additional 479 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Independence Bank of Kentucky lifted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 1,618 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $633,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CAT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group upgraded Caterpillar from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $355.00 to $385.00 in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $452.00 to $414.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $515.00 to $490.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $330.00 to $300.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Evercore ISI raised Caterpillar from an “underperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $365.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $383.13.

Caterpillar Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE CAT opened at $363.84 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $377.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $371.18. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1-year low of $307.05 and a 1-year high of $418.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $175.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.12.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.97 by $0.17. Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.65% and a return on equity of 58.18%. Equities research analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be given a dividend of $1.41 per share. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 21st. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.56%.

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In other news, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $380.09, for a total value of $3,800,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 45,182 shares in the company, valued at $17,173,226.38. This trade represents a 18.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 6,279 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $408.59, for a total value of $2,565,536.61. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 33,565 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,714,323.35. This represents a 15.76 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.