Mutual Advisors LLC Lowers Position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Mutual Advisors LLC reduced its position in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 6.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 17,600 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,301 shares during the period. Mutual Advisors LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $6,698,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Caterpillar by 2.6% during the third quarter. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC now owns 1,037 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $405,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. First Bank & Trust increased its position in Caterpillar by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. First Bank & Trust now owns 709 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $277,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares during the period. Washington Trust Bank boosted its position in Caterpillar by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Washington Trust Bank now owns 2,349 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $919,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares during the period. Channel Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Channel Wealth LLC now owns 1,468 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $533,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pacifica Partners Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 1.6% during the third quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 1,807 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $707,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:CAT opened at $397.68 on Thursday. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52 week low of $287.52 and a 52 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 cap of $192.00 billion, a PE ratio of 18.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.13. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $379.99 and a 200 day simple moving average of $368.17.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.17 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.33 by ($0.16). The business had revenue of $16.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.37 billion. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 59.09% and a net margin of 16.26%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $5.52 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be issued a dividend of $1.41 per share. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 21st. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.15%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on CAT. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $376.00 to $434.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Caterpillar from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $349.00 to $332.00 in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Caterpillar from $299.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Caterpillar from $455.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their target price on Caterpillar from $471.00 to $455.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $380.60.

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In other Caterpillar news, Director Daniel M. Dickinson sold 1,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $418.00, for a total transaction of $543,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 4,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,079,968. This represents a 20.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 968 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $380.98, for a total transaction of $368,788.64. Following the completion of 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 33,868 shares of company stock valued at $13,480,389. Corporate 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.