Eagle Asset Management Inc. Sells 8,444 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Eagle Asset Management Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 42.2% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 11,556 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 8,444 shares during the period. Eagle Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $4,546,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CAT. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Caterpillar in the second quarter worth $28,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Fairscale Capital LLC purchased a new position in Caterpillar in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in Caterpillar in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, POM Investment Strategies LLC increased its stake in Caterpillar by 2,160.0% in the 2nd quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 113 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on CAT shares. Morgan Stanley downgraded Caterpillar from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their target price for the company from $349.00 to $332.00 in a research report on Monday, October 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Caterpillar from $435.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. StockNews.com lowered Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Caterpillar from $299.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on Caterpillar from $445.00 to $435.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $365.33.

Caterpillar Price Performance

NYSE:CAT opened at $397.49 on Monday. Caterpillar Inc. has a one year low of $246.01 and a one year high of $418.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.40. The stock has a market cap of $191.91 billion, a PE ratio of 18.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.10. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $386.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $356.00.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.33 by ($0.16). The business had revenue of $16.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.37 billion. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 59.09% and a net margin of 16.26%. Caterpillar’s revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $5.52 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 21st were paid a $1.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 21st. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.42%. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is presently 26.15%.

Insider Activity

In other Caterpillar news, insider Lange Bob De sold 12,657 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $410.25, for a total transaction of $5,192,534.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 71,107 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,171,646.75. The trade was a 15.11 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Gerald Johnson purchased 100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $338.59 per share, with a total value of $33,859.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 2,842 shares in the company, valued at $962,272.78. The trade was a 3.65 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 20,774 shares of company stock valued at $8,233,034. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.