Mirador Capital Partners LP Cuts Stock Position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Mirador Capital Partners LP trimmed its position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 3.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 878 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 31 shares during the period. Mirador Capital Partners LP’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $322,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Partnership Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Caterpillar in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Thompson Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Gilfoyle & Co LLC acquired a new position in Caterpillar during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Vima LLC acquired a new stake in Caterpillar in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CAT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $338.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Caterpillar in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $380.00 target price for the company. Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Caterpillar in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Stifel Nicolaus cut Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $293.00 to $350.00 in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, HSBC upped their target price on Caterpillar from $330.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Caterpillar has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $329.63.

Caterpillar Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of CAT opened at $329.08 on Tuesday. Caterpillar Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $223.76 and a fifty-two week high of $382.01. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $339.74 and a two-hundred day moving average of $329.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 1.35. The company has a market capitalization of $160.94 billion, a PE ratio of 14.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.12.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $5.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.12 by $0.48. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 58.61% and a net margin of 16.79%. The firm had revenue of $15.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.07 billion. As a group, analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.84 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Investors of record on Monday, July 22nd will be given a dividend of $1.41 per share. This is a positive change from Caterpillar’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 22nd. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.71%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is 23.48%.

Caterpillar announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, June 12th that authorizes the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the industrial products company to buy up to 12.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Cheryl H. Johnson sold 1,508 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $340.00, for a total transaction of $512,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 20,023 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,807,820. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, insider Cheryl H. Johnson sold 1,508 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $340.00, for a total value of $512,720.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 20,023 shares in the company, valued at $6,807,820. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Lange Bob De sold 21,847 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $356.90, for a total transaction of $7,797,194.30. Following the sale, the insider now owns 71,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,380,943.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.