Wright Investors Service Inc. Acquires 3,454 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Wright Investors Service Inc. grew its stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 24.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 17,573 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,454 shares during the period. Caterpillar accounts for approximately 2.1% of Wright Investors Service Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 11th largest position. Wright Investors Service Inc.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $6,375,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC now owns 1,037 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $405,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the period. First Bank & Trust increased its position in Caterpillar by 4.0% during the third quarter. First Bank & Trust now owns 709 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $277,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Washington Trust Bank raised its stake in Caterpillar by 1.2% in the third quarter. Washington Trust Bank now owns 2,349 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $919,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the period. Pacifica Partners Inc. lifted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 1.6% in the third quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 1,807 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $707,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors boosted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors now owns 3,466 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,356,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on CAT. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $454.00 to $471.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $435.00 to $460.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Bank of America upped their target price on Caterpillar from $376.00 to $434.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Morgan Stanley cut 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 report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Caterpillar from $299.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $384.33.

Insider Transactions at Caterpillar

In other news, Director Gerald Johnson bought 100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $398.57 per share, with a total value of $39,857.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,953 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,176,977.21. This represents a 3.51 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Lange Bob De sold 12,657 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $410.25, for a total value of $5,192,534.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 71,107 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,171,646.75. The trade was a 15.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 23,868 shares of company stock worth $9,679,489 over the last three months. 0.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Caterpillar Stock Up 3.4 %

Shares of NYSE CAT opened at $362.82 on Tuesday. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1 year low of $276.94 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 firm has a market cap of $175.17 billion, a PE ratio of 16.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $381.88 and a 200 day simple moving average of $365.94.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.17 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $16.37 billion. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 59.09% and a net margin of 16.26%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.52 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.68 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be issued a $1.41 dividend. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.55%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 21st. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is presently 26.15%.

Caterpillar Company 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.