Blueshift Asset Management LLC Sells 1,316 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Blueshift Asset Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 47.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,476 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,316 shares during the quarter. Blueshift Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $573,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of CAT. Pacific Point Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the 4th quarter worth $579,000. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in Caterpillar by 51.5% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,409 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,688,000 after purchasing an additional 2,519 shares during the last quarter. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC now owns 13,730 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,528,000 after purchasing an additional 266 shares in the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC increased its position in shares of Caterpillar by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC now owns 16,694 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,506,000 after purchasing an additional 1,031 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empower Advisory Group LLC lifted its position in Caterpillar by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 256,441 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $84,574,000 after buying an additional 1,053 shares during the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In other news, insider Jason Kaiser sold 10,707 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $563.60, for a total value of $6,034,465.20. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 8,649 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,874,576.40. The trade was a 55.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Donald J. Umpleby III sold 17,166 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $505.29, for a total value of $8,673,808.14. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman owned 448,173 shares in the company, valued at $226,457,335.17. The trade was a 3.69% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 79,061 shares of company stock worth $41,949,366 over the last 90 days. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $650.00 to $730.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $476.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 17th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $570.00 to $670.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Caterpillar from $513.00 to $645.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, HSBC raised Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $405.00 to $660.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Caterpillar presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $610.32.

Caterpillar Price Performance

Shares of Caterpillar stock opened at $582.68 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $272.68 billion, a PE ratio of 29.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34. The business has a 50 day moving average of $534.56 and a 200 day moving average of $447.95. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52 week low of $267.30 and a 52 week high of $596.21.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $4.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.52 by $0.43. The company had revenue of $17.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.72 billion. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 47.16% and a net margin of 14.34%.The firm’s revenue was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $5.17 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 20th. Investors of record on Monday, October 20th were paid a $1.51 dividend. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 20th. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.01%.

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.