Park Place Capital Corp Sells 43 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Park Place Capital Corp reduced its position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 27.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 111 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 43 shares during the quarter. Park Place Capital Corp’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $41,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Thompson Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the first quarter valued at about $27,000. Partnership Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Vima LLC bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Gilfoyle & Co LLC bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Caterpillar Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:CAT opened at $329.08 on Tuesday. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12-month low of $223.76 and a 12-month high of $382.01. The company has a market capitalization of $160.94 billion, a PE ratio of 14.86, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.12. The business has a 50 day moving average of $339.74 and a two-hundred day moving average of $329.78. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $5.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $15.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 22nd will be issued a $1.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 22nd. This is an increase from Caterpillar’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.71%. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is presently 23.48%.

Caterpillar declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, June 12th that allows the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the industrial products company to repurchase up to 12.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Raymond James assumed coverage on Caterpillar in a research note on Friday. They issued a “market perform” rating on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Caterpillar from $357.00 to $408.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $293.00 to $350.00 in a research note on Friday, April 26th. HSBC lifted their target price on Caterpillar from $330.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Finally, Citigroup assumed coverage on Caterpillar in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $380.00 target price on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $329.63.

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In other Caterpillar news, Director David Maclennan bought 500 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $337.39 per share, with a total value of $168,695.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 5,738 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,935,943.82. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, insider Cheryl H. Johnson sold 1,508 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 20,023 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,807,820. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director David Maclennan bought 500 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $337.39 per share, with a total value of $168,695.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 5,738 shares in the company, valued at $1,935,943.82. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Caterpillar Company 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.