BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp Sells 14,048 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp reduced its holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 14.7% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 81,601 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 14,048 shares during the quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $31,916,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 39,534.0% in the 3rd 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. Altshuler Shaham Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 3,319.7% in the 2nd quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 275,011 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $91,606,000 after purchasing an additional 266,969 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 2.3% in the 3rd 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 during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec raised 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 valued at $305,908,000 after buying an additional 200,210 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI grew its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 104.6% in the second quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 391,428 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $128,768,000 after acquiring an additional 200,134 shares during the period. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 968 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $380.98, for a total value of $368,788.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,686 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $642,332.28. This represents a 36.47 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Lange Bob De sold 12,657 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $410.25, for a total value of $5,192,534.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 71,107 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,171,646.75. The trade was a 15.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 17,589 shares of company stock worth $7,113,953 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley cut Caterpillar from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $349.00 to $332.00 in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Caterpillar from $299.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Barclays raised their price objective on Caterpillar from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Caterpillar from $435.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $365.33.

Caterpillar Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CAT opened at $406.11 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $391.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $357.75. The stock has a market cap of $196.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33. Caterpillar Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $247.84 and a fifty-two week high of $418.50.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.17 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $16.37 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $5.52 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.67 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 21st were given a dividend of $1.41 per share. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 21st. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is 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.