Strategic Investment Advisors MI Trims Stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Strategic Investment Advisors MI lowered its holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 3.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 4,264 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 157 shares during the period. Strategic Investment Advisors MI’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $1,547,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CAT. Kathmere Capital Management LLC raised its position in Caterpillar by 35.4% in the second quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 1,301 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $434,000 after purchasing an additional 340 shares during the period. Ascent Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 19.3% in the 2nd quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 953 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $317,000 after buying an additional 154 shares during the period. Aviso Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 14.9% in the 2nd quarter. Aviso Wealth Management now owns 954 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $318,000 after buying an additional 124 shares during the period. Creative Planning raised its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 10.1% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 224,143 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $74,662,000 after buying an additional 20,535 shares during the period. Finally, Doheny Asset Management CA raised its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 11.7% in the 2nd quarter. Doheny Asset Management CA now owns 621 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $207,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on CAT shares. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Caterpillar from $285.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Truist Financial cut their price objective on Caterpillar from $471.00 to $455.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Caterpillar from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Caterpillar from $299.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on Caterpillar from $376.00 to $434.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $380.60.

Caterpillar Stock Up 0.4 %

Caterpillar stock opened at $407.95 on Monday. Caterpillar Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $293.13 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. The company has a market capitalization of $196.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.91, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.13. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $381.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $369.50.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last posted its earnings results 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). 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 period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.52 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.69 earnings per share 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 paid a dividend of $1.41 per share. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 21st. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In other news, insider Cheryl H. Johnson sold 2,664 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Lange Bob De sold 12,657 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $410.25, for a total value of $5,192,534.25. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 71,107 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,171,646.75. This trade represents a 15.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 33,868 shares of company stock valued at $13,480,389 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

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.