Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) Shares Bought by First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. raised its stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 6.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 17,898 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 1,071 shares during the quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $7,000,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in Caterpillar by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,862,443 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,286,582,000 after purchasing an additional 75,973 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Caterpillar by 5.7% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,069,840 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,022,488,000 after acquiring an additional 165,358 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Caterpillar by 39,534.0% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,136,667 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $8,356,930,000 after purchasing an additional 2,131,276 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 10.4% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,108,817 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $702,431,000 after purchasing an additional 198,123 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 6.3% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,020,100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $740,225,000 after purchasing an additional 119,326 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Caterpillar from $399.00 to $456.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Morgan Stanley downgraded 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 research note on Monday, October 14th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $435.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $355.50.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Gerald Johnson purchased 100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $338.59 per share, with a total value of $33,859.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 2,842 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $962,272.78. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider Cheryl H. Johnson sold 2,975 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $342.48, for a total value of $1,018,878.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,615 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,347,825.20. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Gerald Johnson bought 100 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $338.59 per share, for a total transaction of $33,859.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 2,842 shares in the company, valued at $962,272.78. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Trading Down 0.2 %

NYSE:CAT traded down $0.70 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $386.81. 2,002,863 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,620,366. The firm has a market cap of $189.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.51, a PEG ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.10. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $370.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $350.94. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52-week low of $223.76 and a 52-week high of $403.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 0.78.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The industrial products company reported $5.99 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.53 by $0.46. The firm had revenue of $16.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.91 billion. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 59.88% and a net margin of 16.58%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $5.55 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.91 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Investors of record on Monday, October 21st will be given a dividend of $1.41 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 21st. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.46%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.46%.

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.