Gryphon Financial Partners LLC Sells 110 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Gryphon Financial Partners LLC cut its stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 5.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,876 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 110 shares during the quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $680,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 24.5% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 8,044 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,146,000 after purchasing an additional 1,581 shares during the period. Optas LLC grew its holdings in Caterpillar by 29.6% in the 3rd quarter. Optas LLC now owns 1,295 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $506,000 after buying an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. Conning Inc. increased its position in Caterpillar by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 116,445 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $45,544,000 after buying an additional 5,320 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 1.4% during the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 260,764 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $101,990,000 after buying an additional 3,604 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 0.7% in the third quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 10,606 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,148,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on CAT. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $350.00 to $357.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Caterpillar from $515.00 to $490.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Caterpillar from $452.00 to $414.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Wedbush raised Caterpillar to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on Caterpillar from $420.00 to $430.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $383.80.

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In related news, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $380.09, for a total value of $3,800,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 45,182 shares in the company, valued at $17,173,226.38. This represents a 18.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,425 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $354.70, for a total value of $860,147.50. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,275 shares in the company, valued at $2,225,742.50. The trade was a 27.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Caterpillar Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CAT opened at $343.90 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $365.99 and a 200 day simple moving average of $373.20. The company has a market cap of $164.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.58, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.12. Caterpillar Inc. has a one year low of $307.05 and a one year high of $418.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 0.89.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.97 by $0.17. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 58.18% and a net margin of 16.65%. Research analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st were paid a $1.41 dividend. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.64%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, January 21st. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.56%.

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.