Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC Sells 200 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 4.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,886 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 200 shares during the quarter. Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $1,410,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 50,072.7% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 804,770 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $291,938,000 after purchasing an additional 803,166 shares in the last quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI boosted its holdings in 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 worth $99,874,000 after acquiring an additional 249,155 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC grew its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 36,168.5% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 227,041 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $82,361,000 after acquiring an additional 226,415 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 2.3% during 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 acquiring an additional 205,012 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec raised its position in shares of Caterpillar by 34.4% in the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 782,133 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $305,908,000 after purchasing an additional 200,210 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In other news, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $380.09, for a total value of $3,800,900.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 45,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,173,226.38. The trade was a 18.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gerald Johnson purchased 100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $398.57 per share, with a total value of $39,857.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 2,953 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,176,977.21. The trade was a 3.51 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on CAT. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $330.00 to $300.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $365.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. StockNews.com downgraded Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Wedbush upgraded Caterpillar to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price objective on Caterpillar from $452.00 to $414.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $383.80.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

NYSE:CAT opened at $340.68 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.42. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $366.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $372.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $162.82 billion, a PE ratio of 15.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.12. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52-week low of $307.05 and a 52-week high of $418.50.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released 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%. Analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st were paid a $1.41 dividend. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.66%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, January 21st. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.56%.

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.