KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC lowered its position in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT - Free Report) by 60.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,090 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 6,322 shares during the quarter. KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC's holdings in Caterpillar were worth $1,484,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fairscale Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the 2nd quarter worth $36,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in Caterpillar during the third quarter worth about $36,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC grew its position in Caterpillar by 42.9% during the third quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC now owns 100 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. HWG Holdings LP acquired a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $54,000. Finally, SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. boosted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 47.2% during the 3rd quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 156 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Evercore ISI upgraded Caterpillar from an "underperform" rating to an "in-line" rating and set a $365.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $460.00 to $420.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley cut shares of Caterpillar from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $349.00 to $332.00 in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $455.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $376.00 to $434.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $380.60.

Caterpillar Trading Up 1.4 %

NYSE:CAT traded up $5.48 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $386.03. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,596,820 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,595,788. Caterpillar Inc. has a twelve month low of $277.66 and a twelve month high of $418.50. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $380.09 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $366.76. 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 stock has a market cap of $186.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.13.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $5.33 by ($0.16). The company had revenue of $16.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $16.37 billion. Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.26% and a return on equity of 59.09%. Caterpillar'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 firm posted $5.52 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.68 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In related news, insider Cheryl H. Johnson sold 2,664 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $378.84, for a total transaction of $1,009,229.76. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,951 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,906,356.84. The trade was a 17.06 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 968 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 1,686 shares of the company's stock, valued at $642,332.28. This trade represents a 36.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 33,868 shares of company stock valued at $13,480,389 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company's stock.

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.