Foundry Partners LLC Reduces Holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Foundry Partners LLC cut its position in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 0.6% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 86,576 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 504 shares during the quarter. Caterpillar comprises 1.7% of Foundry Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Foundry Partners LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $33,862,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the 2nd quarter worth about $36,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Caterpillar in the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, POM Investment Strategies LLC raised its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 2,160.0% in the second 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CAT has been the topic of several recent research reports. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $299.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley lowered Caterpillar from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $349.00 to $332.00 in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $285.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $365.33.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 968 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $380.98, for a total transaction of $368,788.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,686 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $642,332.28. This represents a 36.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 3,185 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $351.36, for a total transaction of $1,119,081.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 33,442 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,750,181.12. This represents a 8.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 20,774 shares of company stock valued at $8,233,034. 0.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

Shares of CAT stock opened at $381.44 on Thursday. 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 company has a fifty day moving average price of $383.83 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $355.03. The stock has a market cap of $184.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.10. Caterpillar Inc. has a one year low of $241.81 and a one 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 (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 net margin of 16.26% and a return on equity of 59.09%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $5.52 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.68 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 21st were issued a $1.41 dividend. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.48%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 21st. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is 26.15%.

Caterpillar Company 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.