Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC Has $429,000 Stock Holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC cut its holdings in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 4.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,182 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 50 shares during the quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $429,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC grew its position in Caterpillar by 2.6% during the third quarter. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC now owns 1,037 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $405,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. First Bank & Trust increased its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 4.0% in the third quarter. First Bank & Trust now owns 709 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $277,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Washington Trust Bank boosted its position in Caterpillar by 1.2% during the third quarter. Washington Trust Bank now owns 2,349 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $919,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. increased its position in Caterpillar by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 1,807 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $707,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors raised its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors now owns 3,466 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,356,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on CAT. Bank of America increased their price objective on Caterpillar from $376.00 to $434.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $285.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $460.00 to $420.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Caterpillar from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective on Caterpillar from $454.00 to $471.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $381.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 968 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $380.98, for a total transaction of $368,788.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,686 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $642,332.28. This trade represents a 36.47 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Daniel M. Dickinson sold 1,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $418.00, for a total transaction of $543,400.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 4,976 shares in the company, valued at $2,079,968. This represents a 20.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 23,868 shares of company stock worth $9,679,489 in the last 90 days. 0.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Caterpillar Price Performance

Shares of Caterpillar stock opened at $370.79 on Wednesday. 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 $179.02 billion, a PE ratio of 17.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.13. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $381.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $366.20. Caterpillar Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $276.94 and a fifty-two week high of $418.50.

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

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be issued a dividend of $1.41 per share. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 21st. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is 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.