Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) Declares Quarterly Dividend of $1.41

Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT - Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, April 9th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 21st will be given a dividend of 1.41 per share by the industrial products company on Tuesday, May 20th. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 21st.

Caterpillar has increased its dividend payment by an average of 8.3% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 30 consecutive years. Caterpillar has a dividend payout ratio of 25.4% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Caterpillar to earn $22.11 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $5.64 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 25.5%.

Caterpillar Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE CAT traded up $3.10 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $296.55. The stock had a trading volume of 1,327,768 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,623,216. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $333.97 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $367.00. Caterpillar has a 1 year low of $267.30 and a 1 year high of $418.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.42. The firm has a market cap of $141.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.21.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.97 by $0.17. Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.65% and a return on equity of 58.18%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Caterpillar will post 19.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup reduced their target price on Caterpillar from $430.00 to $320.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $452.00 to $414.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. DA Davidson upped their target price on Caterpillar from $350.00 to $357.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Wedbush upgraded Caterpillar to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, UBS Group raised Caterpillar from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $355.00 to $385.00 in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $365.87.

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In other news, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,425 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $354.70, for a total transaction of $860,147.50. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,275 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,225,742.50. This represents a 27.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $380.09, for a total value of $3,800,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 45,182 shares of the company's stock, valued at $17,173,226.38. The trade was a 18.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Caterpillar

An institutional investor recently bought a new position in Caterpillar stock. Pacific Point Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 1,600 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $579,000. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.