Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) Shares Sold by Guardian Investment Management

Guardian Investment Management decreased its position in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 5.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,987 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 300 shares during the quarter. Caterpillar accounts for approximately 1.2% of Guardian Investment Management’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Guardian Investment Management’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $1,809,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new position in Caterpillar in the second quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in Caterpillar in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC grew its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 42.9% during the 3rd quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC now owns 100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Finally, Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 130.0% during the 4th quarter. Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC now owns 115 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on CAT. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Caterpillar from an “underperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $365.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Caterpillar from $455.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Caterpillar from $299.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com lowered Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $460.00 to $420.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Three investment 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $380.60.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Gerald Johnson bought 100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $398.57 per share, for a total transaction of $39,857.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 2,953 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,176,977.21. This trade represents a 3.51 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 968 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $380.98, for a total value of $368,788.64. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,686 shares in the company, valued at $642,332.28. This trade represents a 36.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 33,868 shares of company stock valued at $13,480,389 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Trading Up 1.4 %

CAT opened at $386.03 on Monday. 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’s 50 day simple moving average is $380.09 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $367.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $186.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.13. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1-year low of $277.66 and a 1-year high of $418.50.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued 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). Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.26% and a return on equity of 59.09%. The company had revenue of $16.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.37 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $5.52 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be paid a dividend of $1.41 per share. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 21st. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.15%.

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.