Vantage Investment Partners LLC Sells 1,828 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Vantage Investment Partners LLC lowered its position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT - Free Report) by 5.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 34,461 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 1,828 shares during the period. Vantage Investment Partners LLC's holdings in Caterpillar were worth $12,501,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Caterpillar by 39,534.0% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,136,667 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $8,356,930,000 after purchasing an additional 2,131,276 shares during the period. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI boosted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 4,018.6% during the 3rd quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 255,355 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $99,874,000 after buying an additional 249,155 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Caterpillar by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 8,952,632 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $3,501,554,000 after buying an additional 205,012 shares during the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its position in Caterpillar by 34.4% during the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 782,133 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $305,908,000 after acquiring an additional 200,210 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in Caterpillar by 106.2% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 317,828 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $124,309,000 after acquiring an additional 163,725 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company's stock.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

NYSE:CAT traded down $4.70 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $390.29. The stock had a trading volume of 1,364,209 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,148,547. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $381.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $369.79. The stock has a market cap of $188.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.09, a PEG ratio of 1.97 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 twelve month low of $297.45 and a twelve month high of $418.50.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.17 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $5.33 by ($0.16). The company had revenue of $16.11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 period last year, the firm earned $5.52 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 1.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 21st. Caterpillar's dividend payout ratio is presently 26.15%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 968 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $380.98, for a total transaction of $368,788.64. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,686 shares of the company's stock, valued at $642,332.28. This represents a 36.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Daniel M. Dickinson sold 1,300 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $418.00, for a total value of $543,400.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 4,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,079,968. This trade represents a 20.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 33,868 shares of company stock valued at $13,480,389. 0.29% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on CAT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Caterpillar from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Caterpillar from $376.00 to $434.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $299.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $455.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut shares of Caterpillar from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $349.00 to $332.00 in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $384.60.

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.