Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI Sells 100,520 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI decreased its holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 39.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 154,835 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 100,520 shares during the period. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $56,168,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. West Wealth Group LLC bought a new stake in Caterpillar in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $230,000. Atomi Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Caterpillar by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 23,193 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $8,414,000 after purchasing an additional 871 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Caterpillar by 38.3% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,218 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $805,000 after purchasing an additional 614 shares during the last quarter. Victrix Investment Advisors acquired a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,090,000. Finally, Zhang Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Caterpillar by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. Zhang Financial LLC now owns 9,158 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,322,000 after purchasing an additional 736 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director David Maclennan purchased 375 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $320.70 per share, for a total transaction of $120,262.50. Following the purchase, the director now owns 6,653 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,133,617.10. The trade was a 5.97% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on CAT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Caterpillar from $490.00 to $380.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Robert W. Baird raised Caterpillar from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $309.00 to $395.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Morgan Stanley raised Caterpillar from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $300.00 to $283.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Raymond James raised Caterpillar from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, DA Davidson increased their price target on Caterpillar from $325.00 to $331.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $375.33.

Caterpillar Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of CAT stock opened at $352.45 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $317.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $353.57. The company has a market cap of $166.02 billion, a PE ratio of 15.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.35. Caterpillar Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $267.30 and a fifty-two week high of $418.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.42.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $4.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.35 by ($0.10). The business had revenue of $14.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.64 billion. Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.65% and a return on equity of 58.18%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $5.60 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 21st will be issued a $1.41 dividend. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 21st. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.49%.

Caterpillar Company 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.