Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc. Sells 456 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc. reduced its position in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 5.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,324 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 456 shares during the quarter. Caterpillar comprises 1.5% of Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 18th biggest position. Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $2,657,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new position in Caterpillar in the second quarter valued at about $36,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Caterpillar during the third quarter worth about $36,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC grew its position in shares of Caterpillar by 42.9% during the 3rd quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC now owns 100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. Finally, Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC raised its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on CAT. Robert W. Baird upped 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Caterpillar from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Caterpillar from $285.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Morgan Stanley lowered Caterpillar from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $349.00 to $332.00 in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their target price on Caterpillar from $471.00 to $455.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $380.60.

Insider Transactions at Caterpillar

In other Caterpillar news, Director Gerald Johnson bought 100 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was 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 owns 2,953 shares in the company, valued at $1,176,977.21. The trade was a 3.51 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 968 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $380.98, for a total transaction of $368,788.64. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,686 shares in the company, valued at approximately $642,332.28. This represents a 36.47 % 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 worth $13,480,389 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Price Performance

NYSE:CAT opened at $386.03 on Friday. 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 Inc. has a 12-month low of $277.66 and a 12-month high of $418.50. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $380.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $367.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $186.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.13.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.17 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.33 by ($0.16). The company had revenue of $16.11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.37 billion. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 59.09% and a net margin of 16.26%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $5.52 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.68 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 given a dividend of $1.41 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 21st. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.46%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.15%.

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.