Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) Shares Sold by Great West Life Assurance Co. Can

Great West Life Assurance Co. Can decreased its stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 18.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 260,243 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 60,604 shares during the period. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can owned 0.05% of Caterpillar worth $64,267,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 130,632.5% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 9,784,017 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,343,859,000 after purchasing an additional 9,776,533 shares during the period. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich grew its position in shares of Caterpillar by 98,763.3% during the second quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 8,679,209 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,135,519,000 after acquiring an additional 8,670,430 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the 4th quarter valued at $1,175,255,000. Gateway Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in Caterpillar in the 1st quarter valued at $4,004,000. Finally, Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board purchased a new position in Caterpillar during the 1st quarter worth $433,134,000. 69.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Caterpillar

In other Caterpillar news, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 2,923 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.00, for a total transaction of $815,517.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 16,182 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,514,778. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on CAT shares. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $287.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 2nd. StockNews.com raised Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 30th. Barclays boosted their target price on Caterpillar from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Finally, Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $323.00 to $297.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $266.80.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

CAT opened at $252.13 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $259.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $252.78. The stock has a market cap of $128.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.09. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1-year low of $204.04 and a 1-year high of $293.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 0.92.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $5.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.75 by $0.77. The business had revenue of $16.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.57 billion. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 56.29% and a net margin of 13.69%. The business’s revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.95 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 20.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 23rd will be given a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 20th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.06%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.46%.

About Caterpillar

Caterpillar, Inc engages in the manufacture of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines, and diesel-electric locomotives. It operates through the following segments: Construction Industries, Resource Industries, Energy and Transportation, Financial Products, and All Other.