Townsquare Capital LLC Purchases 1,338 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Townsquare Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 27,438 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 1,338 shares during the quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $10,732,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Avestar Capital LLC increased its position in Caterpillar by 7.5% in the 3rd quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 3,214 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,257,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group grew its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 5.1% in the third quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 2,785 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,089,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Covington Investment Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Caterpillar by 1.5% in the third quarter. Covington Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 14,545 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,689,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the period. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd raised its position in Caterpillar by 12.0% during the 3rd quarter. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd now owns 23,040 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $9,011,000 after purchasing an additional 2,469 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Qsemble Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Caterpillar during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,123,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Caterpillar news, insider Cheryl H. Johnson sold 2,664 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $378.84, for a total transaction of $1,009,229.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,906,356.84. This represents a 17.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 3,185 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $351.36, for a total value of $1,119,081.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 33,442 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,750,181.12. The trade was a 8.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 20,774 shares of company stock valued at $8,233,034 in the last ninety days. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on CAT. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $285.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Evercore ISI cut shares of Caterpillar from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $321.00 to $365.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $435.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. StockNews.com downgraded Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Caterpillar from $399.00 to $456.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Caterpillar has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $365.33.

Caterpillar Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of Caterpillar stock opened at $403.65 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $390.02 and a 200 day simple moving average of $357.08. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12-month low of $246.01 and a 12-month high of $418.50. The company has a market capitalization of $194.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.10.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.17 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.33 by ($0.16). Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.26% and a return on equity of 59.09%. The firm had revenue of $16.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.37 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $5.52 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 21st were paid a $1.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 21st. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.40%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.15%.

Caterpillar 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.