Advisory Alpha LLC Acquires 163 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Advisory Alpha LLC grew its position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 3.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,990 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 163 shares during the period. Advisory Alpha LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $1,810,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Caterpillar during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in Caterpillar during the 3rd quarter worth about $36,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC boosted 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 worth $39,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC increased its position in shares of Caterpillar by 130.0% in the fourth 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 last quarter. Finally, HWG Holdings LP acquired a new position in Caterpillar during the second quarter valued at approximately $54,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Trading Up 3.3 %

Shares of Caterpillar stock opened at $398.67 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $379.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $367.68. The company has a market capitalization of $192.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.48, a PEG ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.13. 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 $286.10 and a 12-month high of $418.50.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $16.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.37 billion. Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.26% and a return on equity of 59.09%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $5.52 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $380.09, for a total transaction of $3,800,900.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 45,182 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,173,226.38. The trade was a 18.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Cheryl H. Johnson sold 2,664 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $378.84, for a total transaction of $1,009,229.76. Following the sale, the insider now owns 12,951 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,906,356.84. This represents a 17.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 33,868 shares of company stock valued at $13,480,389. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut shares of Caterpillar from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $349.00 to $332.00 in a report on Monday, October 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Caterpillar from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Bank of America increased their price target on Caterpillar from $376.00 to $434.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $460.00 to $420.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $471.00 to $455.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Caterpillar has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $380.60.

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.