CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp Decreases Position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp reduced its stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 0.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,016 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 171 shares during the quarter. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $7,261,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 635,750 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $231,686,000 after purchasing an additional 10,212 shares during the last quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC boosted its stake in Caterpillar by 5.6% during the third quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC now owns 116,566 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $45,591,000 after acquiring an additional 6,212 shares in the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI increased its position in Caterpillar by 43.0% during the 3rd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 13,902 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,437,000 after buying an additional 4,181 shares in the last quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the third quarter valued at $204,000. Finally, Inspire Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Caterpillar by 25.8% in the third quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 8,266 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,233,000 after buying an additional 1,694 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Caterpillar

In other news, insider Lange Bob De sold 12,657 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $410.25, for a total value of $5,192,534.25. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 71,107 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,171,646.75. This represents a 15.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 6,279 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $408.59, for a total value of $2,565,536.61. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 33,565 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,714,323.35. The trade was a 15.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 23,868 shares of company stock valued at $9,679,489 in the last quarter. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Caterpillar Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE CAT opened at $374.81 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $380.79 and its 200-day moving average price is $366.26. The company has a market cap of $180.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.38, a PEG ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.40. Caterpillar Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $276.94 and a fifty-two week high of $418.50.

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

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be given a dividend of $1.41 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 21st. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.50%. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is 26.15%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CAT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Caterpillar from $455.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Caterpillar from $299.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. UBS Group increased their price target on Caterpillar from $285.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $460.00 to $420.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered Caterpillar from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $349.00 to $332.00 in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Caterpillar currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $381.67.

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.