Occidental Asset Management LLC Acquires 615 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Occidental Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 5.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 11,535 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 615 shares during the quarter. Occidental Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $4,185,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 39,534.0% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,136,667 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $8,356,930,000 after purchasing an additional 2,131,276 shares during the last quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd lifted its position in Caterpillar by 3,319.7% in the second quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 275,011 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $91,606,000 after buying an additional 266,969 shares during the last quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI boosted its stake in Caterpillar by 4,018.6% during the third quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 255,355 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $99,874,000 after buying an additional 249,155 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in Caterpillar by 2.3% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 8,952,632 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,501,554,000 after acquiring an additional 205,012 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 34.4% in the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 782,133 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $305,908,000 after acquiring an additional 200,210 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 968 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $380.98, for a total value of $368,788.64. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,686 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $642,332.28. This trade represents a 36.47 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Gerald Johnson acquired 100 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were bought at an average price of $398.57 per share, with a total value of $39,857.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,953 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,176,977.21. This trade represents a 3.51 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 23,868 shares of company stock worth $9,679,489. 0.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Caterpillar Stock Up 1.6 %

Caterpillar stock opened at $380.85 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $380.24 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $366.36. The company has a market cap of $183.87 billion, a PE ratio of 17.66, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.13. Caterpillar Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $276.94 and a fifty-two week high of $418.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.40.

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 the consensus estimate of $5.33 by ($0.16). The business had revenue of $16.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.37 billion. Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.26% and a return on equity of 59.09%. The business’s revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.52 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.68 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

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 dividend of $1.41 per share. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.48%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 21st. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is currently 26.15%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on CAT shares. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $299.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Evercore ISI raised Caterpillar from an “underperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $365.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday. Morgan Stanley downgraded Caterpillar from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $349.00 to $332.00 in a research report on Monday, October 14th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $471.00 to $455.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $380.60.

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.