Janney Capital Management LLC Sells 660 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Janney Capital Management LLC lessened its position in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 40,953 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 660 shares during the period. Janney Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $14,856,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of CAT. Magnus Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Caterpillar by 15.7% in the 4th quarter. Magnus Financial Group LLC now owns 3,652 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,325,000 after acquiring an additional 496 shares in the last quarter. Albion Financial Group UT increased its holdings in Caterpillar by 334.8% in the fourth quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC increased its holdings in Caterpillar by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 4,990 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,810,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. Dakota Wealth Management increased its holdings in Caterpillar by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 38,581 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $13,996,000 after purchasing an additional 228 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eads & Heald Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Eads & Heald Wealth Management now owns 6,442 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,337,000 after acquiring an additional 309 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on CAT shares. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $285.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Caterpillar from $299.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Caterpillar from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Caterpillar from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $349.00 to $332.00 in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $460.00 to $420.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Caterpillar currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $380.60.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Caterpillar news, Director Gerald Johnson acquired 100 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $398.57 per share, for a total transaction of $39,857.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 2,953 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,176,977.21. This represents a 3.51 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $380.09, for a total transaction of $3,800,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 45,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,173,226.38. This represents a 18.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 33,868 shares of company stock valued at $13,480,389 over the last ninety days. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Caterpillar Trading Up 0.0 %

Shares of Caterpillar stock opened at $398.38 on Wednesday. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1 year low of $287.52 and a 1 year high of $418.50. The firm has a market cap of $192.34 billion, a PE ratio of 18.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.13. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $379.99 and a 200-day moving average price of $368.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 0.86.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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). Caterpillar had a return on equity of 59.09% and a net margin of 16.26%. The company had revenue of $16.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.37 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $5.52 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.69 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be paid a dividend of $1.41 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 21st. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.42%. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is currently 26.15%.

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.