Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) Shares Purchased by Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.

Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. raised its holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 24,578 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 190 shares during the quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $7,267,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Summit Global Investments increased its position in Caterpillar by 95.3% during the 4th quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 2,127 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $629,000 after purchasing an additional 1,038 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its stake in Caterpillar by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 3,372 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $997,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Caterpillar by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 8,270 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,445,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Mechanics Financial Corp lifted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Mechanics Financial Corp now owns 3,016 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $892,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Caterpillar by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 8,145,840 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,408,481,000 after acquiring an additional 179,908 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Caterpillar news, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 4,575 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $329.80, for a total value of $1,508,835.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 23,474 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,741,725.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 4,575 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $329.80, for a total transaction of $1,508,835.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 23,474 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,741,725.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Lange Bob De sold 21,194 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $325.52, for a total value of $6,899,070.88. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 61,092 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,886,667.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on CAT. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Caterpillar from $210.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. StockNews.com cut Caterpillar from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Truist Financial initiated coverage on Caterpillar in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $390.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Caterpillar in a research note on Monday, January 8th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $270.00 price target for the company. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on Caterpillar from $255.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $323.35.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

CAT traded up $1.42 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $336.86. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,976,360 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,519,125. The stock has a market cap of $164.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.21, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $351.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $303.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. Caterpillar Inc. has a twelve month low of $205.60 and a twelve month high of $382.01.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $5.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.12 by $0.48. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 58.61% and a net margin of 16.79%. The company had revenue of $15.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.07 billion. Research analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Investors of record on Monday, April 22nd will be given a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 19th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.54%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.48%.

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.