LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI Has $926,000 Stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI raised its stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 26.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,552 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 527 shares during the quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $926,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CAT. Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the second quarter worth $36,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in Caterpillar in the 3rd quarter worth about $36,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC raised its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 42.9% during the 3rd quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC now owns 100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. HWG Holdings LP acquired a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the 2nd quarter valued at about $54,000. Finally, SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. grew its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 47.2% in the 3rd quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 156 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Caterpillar

In related news, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 968 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $380.98, for a total transaction of $368,788.64. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,686 shares in the company, valued at $642,332.28. This represents a 36.47 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Gerald Johnson acquired 100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $398.57 per share, with a total value of $39,857.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 2,953 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,176,977.21. The trade was a 3.51 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 23,868 shares of company stock valued at $9,679,489. 0.29% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $435.00 to $460.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Truist Financial upped their target price on Caterpillar from $454.00 to $471.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $285.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Morgan Stanley lowered Caterpillar from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $349.00 to $332.00 in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Caterpillar from $299.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $384.33.

Caterpillar Price Performance

Shares of Caterpillar stock traded down $8.25 during trading on Friday, hitting $352.82. 1,433,145 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,591,711. Caterpillar Inc. has a twelve month low of $276.94 and a twelve month high of $418.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The company has a market cap of $170.34 billion, a PE ratio of 16.36, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.13. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $382.73 and its 200 day moving average price is $365.00.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.17 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.33 by ($0.16). The company had revenue of $16.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.37 billion. Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.26% and a return on equity of 59.09%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $5.52 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be paid a $1.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 21st. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.60%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.15%.

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.