Davidson Investment Advisors Decreases Position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Davidson Investment Advisors reduced its position in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 5.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,197 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 73 shares during the period. Davidson Investment Advisors’ holdings in Caterpillar were worth $434,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Goldstone Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the third quarter worth $619,000. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in Caterpillar by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,761 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $689,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in Caterpillar by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,159 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,018,000 after acquiring an additional 321 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in Caterpillar by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 111,400 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $43,571,000 after purchasing an additional 9,572 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Calton & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the third quarter valued at approximately $3,911,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CAT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Caterpillar from $420.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Evercore ISI raised shares of Caterpillar from an “underperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $365.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $350.00 to $357.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $455.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Caterpillar has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $383.13.

Caterpillar Trading Down 0.1 %

CAT opened at $353.31 on Tuesday. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52 week low of $307.05 and a 52 week high of $418.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $372.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $372.14. The firm has a market cap of $170.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.12.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.97 by $0.17. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 58.18% and a net margin of 16.65%. On average, equities analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 20.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors 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 1.60%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 21st. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is currently 25.56%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Caterpillar news, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $380.09, for a total transaction of $3,800,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 45,182 shares in the company, valued at $17,173,226.38. The trade was a 18.12 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Gerald Johnson bought 100 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $365.57 per share, with a total value of $36,557.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 3,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,116,085.21. This represents a 3.39 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.