Ameriprise Financial Inc. Has $536.33 Million Position in Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Ameriprise Financial Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 28.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,626,204 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 650,325 shares during the quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned 0.35% of Caterpillar worth $536,333,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Caterpillar by 11.8% during the fourth 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. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in Caterpillar by 8.6% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,940,391 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,429,416,000 after buying an additional 312,878 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Caterpillar by 43,447.3% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,730,259 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,230,239,000 after buying an additional 3,721,693 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Caterpillar by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,304,448 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,089,798,000 after buying an additional 15,347 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Caterpillar by 9.1% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,229,080 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,064,951,000 after purchasing an additional 268,300 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In related news, Director Susan C. Schwab sold 2,324 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $410.00, for a total transaction of $952,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 6,917 shares in the company, valued at $2,835,970. The trade was a 25.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,161 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.70, for a total value of $902,649.70. Following the transaction, the insider owned 8,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,605,586.40. The trade was a 20.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

Shares of Caterpillar stock opened at $417.4240 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $404.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $357.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $195.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.40. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12 month low of $267.30 and a 12 month high of $441.15. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The industrial products company reported $4.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.88 by ($0.16). The firm had revenue of $16.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.14 billion. Caterpillar had a net margin of 14.95% and a return on equity of 48.95%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $5.99 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 21st were paid a $1.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 21st. This is a boost from Caterpillar’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.41. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.72%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Caterpillar from $475.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. UBS Group upgraded Caterpillar from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $272.00 to $357.00 in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Caterpillar in a report on Monday, July 14th. Melius raised Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $500.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price target on Caterpillar from $331.00 to $388.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $450.87.

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.