Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) Shares Acquired by Aspire Private Capital LLC

Aspire Private Capital LLC raised its stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 1.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,266 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. Aspire Private Capital LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $1,185,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the third quarter valued at $36,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 42.9% during the third quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC now owns 100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC increased its stake in Caterpillar by 130.0% in the 4th quarter. Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC now owns 115 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Finally, SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. boosted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 47.2% during 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 during the period. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Caterpillar

In other Caterpillar news, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 968 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $380.98, for a total value of $368,788.64. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,686 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $642,332.28. The trade was a 36.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Cheryl H. Johnson sold 2,664 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $378.84, for a total value 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 $4,906,356.84. This represents a 17.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 33,868 shares of company stock valued at $13,480,389. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on CAT shares. Evercore ISI upgraded Caterpillar from an “underperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $365.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Morgan Stanley downgraded 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 report on Monday, October 14th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $299.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $471.00 to $455.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $380.60.

Caterpillar Trading Up 3.3 %

Shares of CAT opened at $398.67 on Wednesday. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12-month low of $286.10 and a 12-month high of $418.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $192.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.13. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $379.88 and its 200 day moving average price is $367.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.17 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $16.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.37 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $5.52 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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 1.41%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.15%.

Caterpillar Company 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.