Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. Sells 427 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. lowered its holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 4.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 8,916 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 427 shares during the period. Caterpillar accounts for 2.0% of Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD.’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $3,234,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Caterpillar by 0.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,213,455 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,987,206,000 after buying an additional 67,148 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Caterpillar by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 9,081,775 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,294,505,000 after buying an additional 129,143 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in Caterpillar by 1.8% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,627,513 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,418,793,000 after buying an additional 64,452 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Caterpillar by 0.3% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,227,378 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,262,290,000 after buying an additional 8,088 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Wealth Planning LLC grew its stake in Caterpillar by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 1,531,208 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $555,461,000 after buying an additional 47,689 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on CAT shares. Wedbush raised shares of Caterpillar to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $515.00 to $490.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James raised shares of Caterpillar from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. DA Davidson increased their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $350.00 to $357.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $455.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $383.80.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 16th. The shares were 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 approximately $17,173,226.38. This trade represents a 18.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,425 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $354.70, for a total transaction of $860,147.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 6,275 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,225,742.50. This trade represents a 27.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

NYSE CAT opened at $343.90 on Friday. 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 firm has a market cap of $164.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.58, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $365.99 and a 200-day moving average price of $372.95.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.97 by $0.17. Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.65% and a return on equity of 58.18%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 21st were issued a dividend of $1.41 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, January 21st. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.64%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.56%.

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.