Allstate Corp Sells 308 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Allstate Corp cut its holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 16.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,524 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 308 shares during the quarter. Allstate Corp’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $451,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. McIlrath & Eck LLC lifted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 789 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $233,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the period. Lodestar Private Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Caterpillar by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Lodestar Private Asset Management LLC now owns 830 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $245,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the period. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Caterpillar by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,616 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $774,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the period. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Caterpillar by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,507 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,037,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the period. Finally, ACT Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Caterpillar by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. ACT Wealth Management LLC now owns 877 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $259,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the period. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Caterpillar news, insider Lange Bob De sold 21,847 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $356.90, for a total value of $7,797,194.30. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 71,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,380,943.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director David Maclennan bought 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $337.39 per share, with a total value of $168,695.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,738 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,935,943.82. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Lange Bob De sold 21,847 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $356.90, for a total transaction of $7,797,194.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 71,115 shares in the company, valued at $25,380,943.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $290.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. TD Cowen boosted their target price 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. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $210.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. StockNews.com cut shares of Caterpillar from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut shares of Caterpillar from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $321.00 to $338.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $323.35.

Caterpillar Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of CAT stock traded down $2.40 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $353.54. The company had a trading volume of 1,037,452 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,455,805. The stock has a market capitalization of $172.90 billion, a PE ratio of 15.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.19. Caterpillar Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $205.60 and a fifty-two week high of $382.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The company’s fifty day moving average is $356.77 and its 200 day moving average is $313.36.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its 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. The company had revenue of $15.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.07 billion. Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.79% and a return on equity of 58.61%. Research analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 22nd were issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 19th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.47%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.48%.

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.