Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) Shares Sold by Capital Investment Advisors LLC

Capital Investment Advisors LLC lowered its position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 0.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 38,078 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 244 shares during the period. Capital Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $12,558,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CAT. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC acquired a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Investment Management Corp VA ADV acquired a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on CAT. Baird R W raised shares of Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Caterpillar from $320.00 to $370.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $396.00 target price (up from $389.00) on shares of Caterpillar in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Robert W. Baird upgraded Caterpillar from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $309.00 to $395.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Caterpillar from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $272.00 to $357.00 in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $372.92.

Caterpillar Price Performance

Caterpillar stock opened at $353.49 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $320.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is $349.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $166.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.37. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12-month low of $267.30 and a 12-month high of $418.50.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $4.25 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.35 by ($0.10). The firm had revenue of $14.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.64 billion. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 58.18% and a net margin of 16.65%. The firm’s revenue was down 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.60 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 21st were given a dividend of $1.41 per share. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 21st. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.49%.

Insider Transactions at Caterpillar

In other news, Director David Maclennan bought 375 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $320.70 per share, for a total transaction of $120,262.50. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 6,653 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,133,617.10. This trade represents a 5.97% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.