Prospera Financial Services Inc Raises Stock Holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Prospera Financial Services Inc lifted its stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 8.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 95,620 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,293 shares during the quarter. Caterpillar accounts for about 1.0% of Prospera Financial Services Inc’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Prospera Financial Services Inc’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $37,409,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Caterpillar by 17.2% during the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 9,037 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,308,000 after purchasing an additional 1,327 shares during the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co increased its holdings in Caterpillar by 6.4% during the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 219,154 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $80,342,000 after buying an additional 13,257 shares during the last quarter. Pitcairn Co. raised its position in Caterpillar by 6.4% in the first quarter. Pitcairn Co. now owns 3,468 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,271,000 after acquiring an additional 208 shares during the period. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the 1st quarter worth $606,000. Finally, Sax Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the 1st quarter valued at $238,000. 70.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on CAT shares. Evercore ISI downgraded Caterpillar from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $321.00 to $365.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Caterpillar from $399.00 to $456.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $285.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $376.00 to $434.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $365.33.

Insider Transactions at Caterpillar

In other Caterpillar news, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 3,185 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $351.36, for a total transaction of $1,119,081.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 33,442 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,750,181.12. The trade was a 8.70 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Gerald Johnson acquired 100 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $338.59 per share, with a total value of $33,859.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 2,842 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $962,272.78. This trade represents a 3.65 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 23,749 shares of company stock worth $9,251,912. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Caterpillar Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of CAT opened at $384.53 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $381.86 and its 200-day simple moving average is $354.37. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1 year low of $241.81 and a 1 year high of $418.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $185.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 0.86.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.17 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.33 by ($0.16). The company had revenue of $16.11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.37 billion. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 59.09% and a net margin of 16.26%. The company’s revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $5.52 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Investors of record on Monday, October 21st will be given a $1.41 dividend. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 21st. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.15%.

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.