Signal Advisors Wealth LLC Cuts Stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Signal Advisors Wealth LLC lowered its stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 3.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,334 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 177 shares during the period. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $1,572,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CAT. Arbor Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Arbor Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,437 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $884,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Cullen Investment Group LTD. lifted its stake in Caterpillar by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Cullen Investment Group LTD. now owns 8,763 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,179,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Wright Investors Service Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 24.5% during the 4th quarter. Wright Investors Service Inc. now owns 17,573 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $6,375,000 after acquiring an additional 3,454 shares during the last quarter. Grandview Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Caterpillar in the fourth quarter worth $803,000. Finally, Dale Q Rice Investment Management Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $685,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Cheryl H. Johnson sold 2,664 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $378.84, for a total value of $1,009,229.76. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,906,356.84. This trade represents a 17.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Lange Bob De sold 12,657 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $410.25, for a total value of $5,192,534.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 71,107 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,171,646.75. This trade represents a 15.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 23,868 shares of company stock worth $9,679,489. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

CAT opened at $362.82 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $175.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $381.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $365.94. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1 year low of $276.94 and a 1 year high of $418.50.

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

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be issued a $1.41 dividend. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.55%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 21st. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is presently 26.15%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on CAT shares. Morgan Stanley lowered Caterpillar from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their price target for the company from $349.00 to $332.00 in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $455.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $285.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Caterpillar from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Caterpillar has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $384.33.

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.