Modus Advisors LLC Sells 59 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Modus Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 0.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,077 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 59 shares during the quarter. Modus Advisors LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $3,983,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of CAT. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Caterpillar by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 46,809,540 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $16,980,629,000 after buying an additional 284,366 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Caterpillar by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,449,770 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,790,841,000 after buying an additional 236,315 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Caterpillar by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 9,081,775 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,294,505,000 after buying an additional 129,143 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Caterpillar by 11.8% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,847,330 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,483,937,000 after purchasing an additional 724,477 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Caterpillar in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,184,364,000. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on CAT shares. Morgan Stanley raised Caterpillar from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $300.00 to $283.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. DA Davidson lifted their price target on Caterpillar from $325.00 to $331.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Baird R W raised Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Bank of America decreased their price target on Caterpillar from $452.00 to $414.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Wedbush raised Caterpillar to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $375.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director David Maclennan purchased 375 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $320.70 per share, with a total value of $120,262.50. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 6,653 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,133,617.10. This trade represents a 5.97% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Caterpillar Price Performance

CAT opened at $349.68 on Thursday. 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 Inc. has a 52-week low of $267.30 and a 52-week high of $418.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $164.71 billion, a PE ratio of 15.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.35. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $318.94 and its 200-day moving average price is $351.77.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $4.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.35 by ($0.10). Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.65% and a return on equity of 58.18%. The business had revenue of $14.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.64 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $5.60 earnings per share. Caterpillar’s quarterly revenue was down 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Investors of record on Monday, April 21st were paid a $1.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 21st. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.61%. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is 27.49%.

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.