Yousif Capital Management LLC Sells 6,330 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Yousif Capital Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 6.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 86,180 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 6,330 shares during the quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $28,422,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CAT. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 38.3% in the 4th 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 bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,090,000. Braun Stacey Associates Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Braun Stacey Associates Inc. now owns 34,837 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $12,637,000 after purchasing an additional 963 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 14.6% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 5,724 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,076,000 after purchasing an additional 730 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MFG Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,308,000. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

Shares of CAT stock opened at $358.12 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.42. The company has a market capitalization of $168.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.37. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $321.20 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $349.13. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52 week low of $267.30 and a 52 week high of $418.50.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $4.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.64 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $5.60 earnings per share. Caterpillar’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 21st were issued a $1.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 21st. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.57%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.49%.

Insider Activity

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group upgraded shares of Caterpillar from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the company from $272.00 to $357.00 in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Caterpillar from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $395.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Caterpillar from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $309.00 to $395.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Baird R W upgraded shares of Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $490.00 to $380.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Caterpillar has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $372.92.

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.