Capital International Ltd. CA Reduces Position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Capital International Ltd. CA reduced its holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT - Free Report) by 8.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 78,300 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 6,786 shares during the quarter. Caterpillar accounts for about 1.2% of Capital International Ltd. CA's investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest position. Capital International Ltd. CA's holdings in Caterpillar were worth $28,404,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 635,750 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $231,686,000 after buying an additional 10,212 shares during the last quarter. West Wealth Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the 4th quarter worth about $230,000. Cadinha & Co. LLC bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the 4th quarter valued at about $11,084,000. Atomi Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 23,193 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $8,414,000 after buying an additional 871 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Copley Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Caterpillar in the third quarter worth approximately $800,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Wedbush upgraded shares of Caterpillar to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup lowered their target price on Caterpillar from $430.00 to $320.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Caterpillar from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and cut their target price for the stock from $300.00 to $283.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $490.00 to $380.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Caterpillar from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $359.36.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Gerald Johnson bought 100 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $365.57 per share, for a total transaction of $36,557.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 3,053 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,116,085.21. This represents a 3.39 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,425 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $354.70, for a total transaction of $860,147.50. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 6,275 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,225,742.50. This trade represents a 27.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Caterpillar Stock Up 2.4 %

CAT traded up $6.98 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $298.15. The stock had a trading volume of 1,143,925 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,634,083. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. The company has a market capitalization of $142.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.21. The stock's 50 day moving average is $324.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $362.29. Caterpillar Inc. has a one year low of $267.30 and a one year high of $418.50.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 21st will be given a $1.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 21st. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.89%. Caterpillar's dividend payout ratio is currently 25.56%.

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.