TrueWealth Advisors LLC Sells 869 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

TrueWealth Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 52.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 788 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 869 shares during the period. TrueWealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $286,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CAT. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 39,534.0% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,136,667 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $8,356,930,000 after purchasing an additional 2,131,276 shares in the last quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 3,319.7% during the 2nd quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 275,011 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $91,606,000 after acquiring an additional 266,969 shares during the period. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI increased its stake in Caterpillar by 4,018.6% in the third quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 255,355 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $99,874,000 after acquiring an additional 249,155 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in 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 valued at $3,501,554,000 after purchasing an additional 205,012 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its stake in Caterpillar by 34.4% during the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 782,133 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $305,908,000 after purchasing an additional 200,210 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, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $380.09, for a total transaction of $3,800,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 45,182 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,173,226.38. This represents a 18.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Daniel M. Dickinson sold 1,300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $418.00, for a total value of $543,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,079,968. The trade was a 20.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 33,868 shares of company stock worth $13,480,389. 0.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on CAT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Caterpillar from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $455.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Caterpillar from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $349.00 to $332.00 in a report on Monday, October 14th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective 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. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Caterpillar from an “underperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $365.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $380.60.

Caterpillar Price Performance

Shares of CAT opened at $386.03 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $186.38 billion, a PE ratio of 17.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.13. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52-week low of $277.66 and a 52-week high of $418.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.40. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $380.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $366.76.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.37 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $5.52 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.68 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be paid a $1.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 21st. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.46%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.15%.

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.