Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) Shares Sold by Freedom Investment Management Inc.

Freedom Investment Management Inc. lowered its holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 7.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,911 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 302 shares during the period. Freedom Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $1,530,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in CAT. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 2.3% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 8,952,632 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,501,554,000 after purchasing an additional 205,012 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,862,443 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,286,582,000 after buying an additional 75,973 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Caterpillar by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,227,378 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,262,290,000 after acquiring an additional 8,088 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 5.7% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,069,840 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,022,488,000 after purchasing an additional 165,358 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 39,534.0% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,136,667 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $8,356,930,000 after purchasing an additional 2,131,276 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on CAT. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $299.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Citigroup lowered their target price on Caterpillar from $445.00 to $435.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Barclays boosted their price target on Caterpillar from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley lowered Caterpillar from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $349.00 to $332.00 in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on Caterpillar from $285.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Caterpillar presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $365.33.

Caterpillar Price Performance

CAT opened at $403.65 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $390.02 and its 200 day moving average price is $357.08. Caterpillar Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $246.01 and a fifty-two week high of $418.50. The firm has a market cap of $194.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.10.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.33 by ($0.16). Caterpillar had a return on equity of 59.09% and a net margin of 16.26%. The company had revenue of $16.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.37 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $5.52 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Investors of record on Monday, October 21st were issued a $1.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 21st. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.40%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.15%.

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In other Caterpillar news, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 968 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $380.98, for a total transaction of $368,788.64. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,686 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $642,332.28. The trade was a 36.47 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Gerald Johnson purchased 100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $338.59 per share, with a total value of $33,859.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 2,842 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $962,272.78. This represents a 3.65 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 20,774 shares of company stock worth $8,233,034 in the last ninety days. 0.29% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.