Richard C. Young & CO. LTD. Sells 1,188 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Richard C. Young & CO. LTD. reduced its position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 2.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 54,567 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,188 shares during the quarter. Caterpillar makes up about 1.9% of Richard C. Young & CO. LTD.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Richard C. Young & CO. LTD.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $17,996,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CAT. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,184,364,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Caterpillar by 43,447.3% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,730,259 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,230,239,000 after acquiring an additional 3,721,693 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 69.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,924,054 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,060,730,000 after purchasing an additional 1,196,861 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 11.8% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,847,330 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,483,937,000 after purchasing an additional 724,477 shares during the period. Finally, APG Asset Management N.V. grew its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 1,278.6% in the fourth quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 440,641 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $154,367,000 after purchasing an additional 408,678 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director David Maclennan acquired 375 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $320.70 per share, for a total transaction of $120,262.50. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 6,653 shares in the company, valued at $2,133,617.10. This represents a 5.97% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CAT has been the topic of a number of research reports. DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $325.00 to $331.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Baird R W raised Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Caterpillar in a research note on Monday. Melius raised shares of Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $500.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Caterpillar from $395.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $412.33.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

CAT stock opened at $412.89 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43. The firm has a market cap of $194.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.38. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12-month low of $267.30 and a 12-month high of $418.50. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $365.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is $349.05.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $4.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.35 by ($0.10). The firm had revenue of $14.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.64 billion. Caterpillar had a net margin of 15.71% and a return on equity of 53.77%. The business’s revenue was down 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $5.60 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Investors of record on Monday, July 21st will be paid a dividend of $1.51 per share. This is an increase from Caterpillar’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.41. This represents a $6.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 21st. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.49%.

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.