Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Sells 28,639 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lowered its holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 12.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 194,886 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 28,639 shares during the quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $111,645,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co lifted its stake in Caterpillar by 8.5% in the fourth quarter. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 76,800 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $43,996,000 after acquiring an additional 6,000 shares during the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. lifted its stake in Caterpillar by 13,745.4% in the fourth quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 61,335 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $35,137,000 after acquiring an additional 60,892 shares during the last quarter. Houlihan Financial Resource Group Ltd. acquired a new stake in Caterpillar in the fourth quarter valued at $394,000. CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in Caterpillar by 23.6% in the fourth quarter. CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,700 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,546,000 after acquiring an additional 516 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Foundations Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Caterpillar by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,870 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,508,000 after acquiring an additional 275 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In related news, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 360 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $906.00, for a total transaction of $326,160.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 530 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $480,180. The trade was a 40.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 15,674 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $918.71, for a total transaction of $14,399,860.54. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 52,935 shares in the company, valued at $48,631,913.85. This trade represents a 22.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 98,273 shares of company stock worth $89,439,960 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Price Performance

CAT stock opened at $872.61 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12 month low of $339.50 and a 12 month high of $931.35. The firm has a market cap of $401.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.63. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $811.10 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $702.31.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.54 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.65 by $0.89. Caterpillar had a net margin of 13.33% and a return on equity of 48.21%. The firm had revenue of $17.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.53 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $4.25 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 22.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 24.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 19th. Investors of record on Monday, April 20th were issued a dividend of $1.51 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 20th. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is 30.06%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on CAT shares. HSBC raised their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $850.00 to $1,100.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $860.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley set a $915.00 price objective on shares of Caterpillar and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Williams Trading set a $825.00 price objective on shares of Caterpillar in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $923.14.

Caterpillar Company Profile

Caterpillar Inc is a global manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines and locomotives. The company’s product portfolio includes earthmoving machines such as excavators, bulldozers, wheel loaders and off‑highway trucks, as well as a range of power generation products including generator sets and power systems for industrial and commercial use. Caterpillar serves customers across heavy construction, mining, energy, transportation and related industries with both equipment and integrated technology solutions.

In addition to manufacturing, Caterpillar provides a broad range of aftermarket parts and support services, including maintenance, repair, remanufacturing and fleet management tools.