Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) is Hixon Zuercher LLC’s 4th Largest Position

Hixon Zuercher LLC decreased its holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 22,868 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 312 shares during the quarter. Caterpillar accounts for approximately 3.2% of Hixon Zuercher LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Hixon Zuercher LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $8,295,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in Caterpillar in the 3rd quarter worth about $36,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC grew its stake 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 valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Albion Financial Group UT grew its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 334.8% during the 4th quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the period. Finally, Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 130.0% during the 4th quarter. Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC now owns 115 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Caterpillar from $299.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley downgraded Caterpillar from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their price target for the company from $349.00 to $332.00 in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Truist Financial cut their price target on Caterpillar from $471.00 to $455.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Caterpillar from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $384.60.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 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 sale, the director now directly owns 4,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,079,968. This represents a 20.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $380.09, for a total value of $3,800,900.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 45,182 shares in the company, valued at $17,173,226.38. This trade represents a 18.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 32,900 shares of company stock worth $13,111,601 in the last three months. 0.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Caterpillar Trading Down 4.4 %

CAT stock opened at $375.98 on Friday. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1-year low of $299.93 and a 1-year high of $418.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The company has a market capitalization of $181.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.43, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.13. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $381.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $370.78.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.97 by $0.17. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 59.09% and a net margin of 16.26%. Research analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be paid a $1.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 21st. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.50%. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is 26.15%.

About Caterpillar

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.