Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS Sells 3,644 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lessened its stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 3.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 108,855 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 3,644 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $62,360,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 46,385,185 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $26,572,681,000 after buying an additional 442,164 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,610,182 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $6,072,572,000 after buying an additional 94,524 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 9,493,266 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,438,408,000 after buying an additional 54,069 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 3,949.8% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,228,058 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,494,568,000 after buying an additional 5,098,964 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,802,068 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,337,007,000 after buying an additional 58,993 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on CAT shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Caterpillar from $960.00 to $1,050.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Citigroup increased their price objective on Caterpillar from $905.00 to $1,020.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Caterpillar from $860.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Williams Trading set a $825.00 price target on Caterpillar in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Caterpillar from $900.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $923.14.

Caterpillar Price Performance

Caterpillar stock opened at $872.61 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $811.10 and its 200 day moving average is $702.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The firm has a market cap of $401.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.63. Caterpillar Inc. has a one year low of $339.50 and a one year high of $931.35.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.54 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.65 by $0.89. The company had revenue of $17.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.53 billion. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 48.21% and a net margin of 13.33%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 22.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $4.25 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 24.67 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 20th were paid a $1.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 20th. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is 30.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 360 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $906.00, for a total value of $326,160.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 530 shares in the company, valued at $480,180. The trade was a 40.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 16,283 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $916.80, for a total transaction of $14,928,254.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 46,041 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,210,388.80. This represents a 26.13% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 98,273 shares of company stock worth $89,439,960 over the last ninety days. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Caterpillar Profile

Caterpillar Inc is a global manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines and locomotives. The company’s product portfolio includes earthmoving machines such as excavators, bulldozers, wheel loaders and off‑highway trucks, as well as a range of power generation products including generator sets and power systems for industrial and commercial use. Caterpillar serves customers across heavy construction, mining, energy, transportation and related industries with both equipment and integrated technology solutions.

In addition to manufacturing, Caterpillar provides a broad range of aftermarket parts and support services, including maintenance, repair, remanufacturing and fleet management tools.