Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Sells 54,060 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD reduced its stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 4.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,070,860 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 54,060 shares during the quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned 0.22% of Caterpillar worth $392,397,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Partnership Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in Caterpillar during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Thompson Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Fairman Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the first quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Gilfoyle & Co LLC bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CAT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Caterpillar in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $380.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com raised Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus cut Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price target for the company from $293.00 to $350.00 in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Raymond James assumed coverage on Caterpillar in a research report on Friday, June 28th. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Caterpillar from $385.00 to $435.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and nine have given 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 price target of $329.63.

Caterpillar Price Performance

Shares of Caterpillar stock traded down $5.75 on Monday, reaching $344.73. 625,221 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,708,095. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $336.58 and its 200-day moving average is $336.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 1.35. Caterpillar Inc. has a one year low of $223.76 and a one year high of $382.01. The firm has a market cap of $168.59 billion, a PE ratio of 15.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.12.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $5.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.12 by $0.48. The business had revenue of $15.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.07 billion. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 58.61% and a net margin of 16.79%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Investors of record on Monday, July 22nd will be issued a dividend of $1.41 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 22nd. This is a positive change from Caterpillar’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.64%. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is 25.46%.

Caterpillar announced that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, June 12th that authorizes the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the industrial products company to buy up to 12.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Caterpillar news, insider Lange Bob De sold 21,847 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $356.90, for a total transaction of $7,797,194.30. Following the sale, the insider now owns 71,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,380,943.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, insider Lange Bob De sold 21,847 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $356.90, for a total transaction of $7,797,194.30. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 71,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,380,943.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Cheryl H. Johnson sold 1,508 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $350.00, for a total value of $527,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 18,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,480,250. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 24,863 shares of company stock worth $8,837,714 in the last three months. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.