Capital Investment Advisors LLC Has $13.90 Million Stock Position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Capital Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 38,322 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 688 shares during the quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $13,902,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the second quarter valued at about $36,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the third quarter valued at $36,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC lifted its stake in Caterpillar by 42.9% in the third quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC now owns 100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. HWG Holdings LP bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the 2nd quarter valued at about $54,000. Finally, SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. raised its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 47.2% in the 3rd quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 156 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on CAT shares. UBS Group lifted their target price on Caterpillar from $285.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Caterpillar from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $349.00 to $332.00 in a report on Monday, October 14th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Caterpillar from $454.00 to $471.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Caterpillar from $435.00 to $460.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $384.33.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

NYSE CAT traded up $7.68 during trading on Monday, hitting $358.68. 834,947 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,674,488. The stock has a market capitalization of $173.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.63, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.40. The business has a 50 day moving average of $382.16 and a 200-day moving average of $365.69. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12-month low of $276.94 and a 12-month high of $418.50.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued 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 analysts’ expectations of $16.37 billion. Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.26% and a return on equity of 59.09%. Caterpillar’s revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.52 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.68 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. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be paid a $1.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 21st. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.57%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.15%.

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In related news, Director Daniel M. Dickinson sold 1,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $418.00, for a total transaction of $543,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,976 shares in the company, valued at $2,079,968. This represents a 20.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 968 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $380.98, for a total transaction of $368,788.64. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,686 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $642,332.28. This represents a 36.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 23,868 shares of company stock valued at $9,679,489. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar 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.