Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC Increases Stock Position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC increased its position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 4.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 11,927 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 519 shares during the quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $4,327,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Caterpillar in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the 3rd quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Albion Financial Group UT increased its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 334.8% in the 4th quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the period. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. DA Davidson raised their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $350.00 to $357.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Bank of America lowered their price target on Caterpillar from $452.00 to $414.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Wedbush upgraded shares of Caterpillar to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Raymond James raised Caterpillar from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $383.80.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,425 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $354.70, for a total transaction of $860,147.50. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,275 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,225,742.50. This represents a 27.87 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Gerald Johnson acquired 100 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $365.57 per share, for a total transaction of $36,557.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,053 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,116,085.21. The trade was a 3.39 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Trading Up 2.9 %

NYSE CAT opened at $350.97 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $167.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.15. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52 week low of $307.05 and a 52 week high of $418.50. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $363.11 and a 200-day moving average price of $372.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.14 earnings per share (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%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st were paid a $1.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, January 21st. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.61%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.56%.

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.