Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Sells 6,201 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 4.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 122,478 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 6,201 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $36,212,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CAT. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 272.4% in the first quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 108 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the period. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 730.8% in the first quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 108 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Finally, First Capital Advisors Group LLC. purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the second quarter worth $30,000. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Evercore ISI downgraded shares of Caterpillar from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $321.00 to $338.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $285.00 to $293.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $216.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $357.00 to $408.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $255.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $307.56.

Caterpillar Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE CAT traded down $1.55 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $358.33. The company had a trading volume of 2,312,918 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,435,356. The business’s 50-day moving average is $344.54 and its 200-day moving average is $296.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The stock has a market cap of $178.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.17. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52 week low of $204.04 and a 52 week high of $382.01.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The industrial products company reported $5.23 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.76 by $0.47. The firm had revenue of $17.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.06 billion. Caterpillar had a net margin of 15.41% and a return on equity of 56.99%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.86 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 22nd will be issued a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 19th. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is presently 25.82%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In other Caterpillar news, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 4,575 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $329.80, for a total transaction of $1,508,835.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 23,474 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,741,725.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 4,575 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $329.80, for a total value of $1,508,835.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 23,474 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,741,725.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Lange Bob De sold 21,194 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $325.52, for a total transaction of $6,899,070.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 61,092 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,886,667.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 45,769 shares of company stock valued at $14,509,306. Company insiders own 0.33% 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.