Manning & Napier Advisors LLC Sells 11,131 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Manning & Napier Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 8.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 113,495 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 11,131 shares during the period. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $41,171,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of CAT. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in Caterpillar by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 635,750 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $231,686,000 after purchasing an additional 10,212 shares in the last quarter. West Wealth Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the 4th quarter worth $230,000. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC now owns 116,566 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $45,591,000 after purchasing an additional 6,212 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI boosted its stake in Caterpillar by 43.0% in the third quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 13,902 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,437,000 after acquiring an additional 4,181 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cadinha & Co. LLC purchased a new position in Caterpillar in the fourth quarter valued at about $11,084,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on CAT. Citigroup dropped their target price on Caterpillar from $460.00 to $420.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Morgan Stanley downgraded 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 note on Monday, October 14th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $295.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $299.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $384.60.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Caterpillar news, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 968 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $380.98, for a total transaction of $368,788.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,686 shares in the company, valued at $642,332.28. The trade was a 36.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $380.09, for a total value of $3,800,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 45,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,173,226.38. This trade represents a 18.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 33,868 shares of company stock worth $13,480,389 in the last three months. 0.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Caterpillar Stock Up 1.9 %

NYSE CAT traded up $7.32 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $397.61. 326,972 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,066,064. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 0.86. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52-week low of $299.93 and a 52-week high of $418.50. The firm has a market cap of $191.96 billion, a PE ratio of 18.47, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.13. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $381.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $370.23.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 16.26% and a return on equity of 59.09%. The company had revenue of $16.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.37 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $5.52 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be given a $1.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 21st. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.42%. 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.