Yousif Capital Management LLC Trims Position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Yousif Capital Management LLC trimmed its holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 92,510 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,522 shares during the quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $33,559,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in CAT. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 39,534.0% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,136,667 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $8,356,930,000 after buying an additional 2,131,276 shares during the last quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI raised its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 4,018.6% in the third quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 255,355 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $99,874,000 after buying an additional 249,155 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 2.3% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 8,952,632 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,501,554,000 after buying an additional 205,012 shares during the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec raised its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 34.4% in the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 782,133 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $305,908,000 after buying an additional 200,210 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in Caterpillar by 106.2% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 317,828 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $124,309,000 after purchasing an additional 163,725 shares in the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $299.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Evercore ISI raised shares of Caterpillar from an “underperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $365.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. DA Davidson increased their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $350.00 to $357.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. StockNews.com cut shares of Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $330.00 to $300.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $379.50.

Caterpillar Stock Up 0.2 %

CAT stock opened at $362.21 on Wednesday. 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 company’s 50 day simple moving average is $380.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $371.21. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12 month low of $307.05 and a 12 month high of $418.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $174.88 billion, a PE ratio of 16.41, a P/E/G 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 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 analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.56%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.56%.

Insider Transactions at Caterpillar

In other Caterpillar news, insider Lange Bob De sold 12,657 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 71,107 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,171,646.75. The trade was a 15.11 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $380.09, for a total transaction of $3,800,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 45,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,173,226.38. The trade was a 18.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 28,936 shares of company stock valued at $11,558,971 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

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.