SageView Advisory Group LLC Sells 1,947 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

SageView Advisory Group LLC lowered its stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 57.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,444 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,947 shares during the quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $440,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CAT. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Caterpillar in the fourth quarter valued at $1,660,560,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Caterpillar by 28,603.5% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,494,018 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,417,360,000 after acquiring an additional 1,488,813 shares in the last quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC boosted its holdings in Caterpillar by 27,495.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 1,182,453 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $349,616,000 after acquiring an additional 1,178,168 shares in the last quarter. Winslow Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Caterpillar by 2,265.3% in the third quarter. Winslow Capital Management LLC now owns 1,117,830 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $305,168,000 after acquiring an additional 1,070,570 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 19.4% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,264,635 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $947,875,000 after buying an additional 529,420 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CAT has been the topic of a number of research reports. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $338.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $357.00 to $408.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Caterpillar in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Stifel Nicolaus cut shares of Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $293.00 to $350.00 in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Caterpillar from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Caterpillar currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $323.35.

Caterpillar Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CAT opened at $324.87 on Wednesday. Caterpillar Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $223.76 and a fifty-two week high of $382.01. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $345.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $325.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 1.35. The firm has a market cap of $158.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.14.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $5.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.12 by $0.48. Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.79% and a return on equity of 58.61%. The firm had revenue of $15.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.07 billion. On average, analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 22nd will be given a dividend of $1.41 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 22nd. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.74%. This is a positive change from Caterpillar’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.48%.

Caterpillar declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, June 12th that authorizes the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the industrial products company to purchase up to 12.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Lange Bob De sold 21,847 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $356.90, for a total transaction of $7,797,194.30. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 71,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,380,943.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, insider Lange Bob De sold 21,847 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $356.90, for a total transaction of $7,797,194.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 71,115 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,380,943.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director David Maclennan acquired 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were bought at an average price of $337.39 per share, with a total value of $168,695.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 5,738 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,935,943.82. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.