Beacon Capital Management LLC Buys 29 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Beacon Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 2.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,432 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 29 shares during the period. Beacon Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $520,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Creative Planning increased its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 1.7% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 227,915 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $89,142,000 after purchasing an additional 3,772 shares in the last quarter. Bfsg LLC increased its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 15.3% during the third quarter. Bfsg LLC now owns 317 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $124,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. increased its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 16.7% during the third quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 20,594 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $8,055,000 after purchasing an additional 2,950 shares in the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 3.4% during the third quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,103 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,996,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldstone Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the third quarter valued at approximately $619,000. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CAT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $455.00 to $438.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. DA Davidson increased their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $350.00 to $357.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $330.00 to $300.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $452.00 to $414.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $455.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $383.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Gerald Johnson acquired 100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $365.57 per share, for a total transaction of $36,557.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,116,085.21. This trade represents a 3.39 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 16th. The shares were 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 owns 45,182 shares in the company, valued at $17,173,226.38. The trade was a 18.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of CAT stock opened at $353.31 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12-month low of $307.05 and a 12-month high of $418.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $170.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.12. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $372.47 and its 200 day moving average is $371.96.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released 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 net margin of 16.65% and a return on equity of 58.18%. Research analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 20.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

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 given a $1.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 21st. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.60%. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is presently 25.56%.

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.