Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lowered its holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 4.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 122,478 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 6,201 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $36,212,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of CAT. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Caterpillar by 130,632.5% in the fourth 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 last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Caterpillar in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,175,255,000. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board bought a new position in Caterpillar during the 1st quarter worth approximately $433,134,000. Imprint Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Caterpillar by 24,982.9% during the 2nd quarter. Imprint Wealth LLC now owns 1,538,084 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $153,808,000 after buying an additional 1,531,952 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Caterpillar by 28,603.5% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,494,018 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,417,360,000 after buying an additional 1,488,813 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In other Caterpillar news, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 4,575 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $329.80, for a total transaction of $1,508,835.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 23,474 shares in the company, valued at $7,741,725.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 4,575 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $329.80, for a total value of $1,508,835.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 23,474 shares in the company, valued at $7,741,725.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.10, for a total value of $3,101,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 57,317 shares in the company, valued at $17,774,001.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 45,769 shares of company stock worth $14,509,306 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CAT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Caterpillar from $285.00 to $293.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Caterpillar from $385.00 to $435.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Evercore ISI cut Caterpillar from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and raised their target price for the company from $321.00 to $338.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on Caterpillar from $216.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 21st. Finally, TD Cowen raised their target price on Caterpillar from $300.00 to $338.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Caterpillar has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $307.56.

Caterpillar Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:CAT traded down $1.55 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $358.33. 2,312,918 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,435,356. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 1.35. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52-week low of $204.04 and a 52-week high of $382.01. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $344.54 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $296.35. The company has a market capitalization of $178.95 billion, a PE ratio of 17.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.17.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 5th. The industrial products company reported $5.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.76 by $0.47. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 56.99% and a net margin of 15.41%. The business had revenue of $17.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.06 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.86 earnings per share. Caterpillar’s quarterly revenue was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 22nd will be issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 19th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.45%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.82%.

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.