Hartford Investment Management Co. Sells 809 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Hartford Investment Management Co. lowered its holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 2.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 30,525 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 809 shares during the period. Hartford Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $11,939,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Thompson Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in Caterpillar during the 1st quarter worth $27,000. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the second quarter worth $28,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. acquired a new position in Caterpillar in the second quarter valued at about $28,000. Fairman Group LLC bought a new stake in Caterpillar during the first quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Caterpillar in the second quarter valued at approximately $36,000. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In other Caterpillar news, insider Cheryl H. Johnson sold 2,975 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $342.48, for a total value of $1,018,878.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 15,615 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,347,825.20. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Cheryl H. Johnson sold 2,975 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $342.48, for a total transaction of $1,018,878.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,615 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,347,825.20. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 3,185 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $351.36, for a total transaction of $1,119,081.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 33,442 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,750,181.12. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Caterpillar from $435.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. UBS Group increased their target price on Caterpillar from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley cut Caterpillar from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $349.00 to $332.00 in a report on Monday, October 14th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Raymond James started coverage on shares of Caterpillar in a report on Friday, June 28th. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Caterpillar has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $355.50.

Caterpillar Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:CAT traded down $1.11 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $387.35. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 73,038 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,624,364. Caterpillar Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $223.76 and a fifty-two week high of $403.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 1.28. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $365.94 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $350.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $189.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.54, a PEG ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.10.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The industrial products company reported $5.99 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.53 by $0.46. The company had revenue of $16.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.91 billion. Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.58% and a return on equity of 59.88%. Caterpillar’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $5.55 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 21st will be paid a $1.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 21st. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.46%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.46%.

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.