BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. Sells 9,253 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. cut its position in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 8.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 100,596 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 9,253 shares during the period. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $39,345,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Caterpillar during the second quarter valued at $28,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Fairscale Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the 2nd quarter valued at about $36,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, POM Investment Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 2,160.0% in the 2nd quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 113 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CAT has been the subject of several analyst reports. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Caterpillar from $445.00 to $435.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com downgraded Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Evercore ISI cut shares of Caterpillar from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $321.00 to $365.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. 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 report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $399.00 to $456.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $365.33.

Caterpillar Stock Up 2.3 %

Shares of NYSE CAT opened at $390.26 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $384.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $355.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $188.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.09, a PEG ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.10. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52-week low of $241.81 and a 52-week high of $418.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.40.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $16.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.37 billion. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 59.09% and a net margin of 16.26%. Caterpillar’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $5.52 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 21st were given a dividend of $1.41 per share. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 21st. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.15%.

Insider Transactions at Caterpillar

In related news, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 3,185 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $351.36, for a total transaction of $1,119,081.60. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 33,442 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,750,181.12. This trade represents a 8.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Gerald Johnson bought 100 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were bought at an average price of $338.59 per share, with a total value of $33,859.00. Following the acquisition, 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. In the last quarter, insiders sold 20,774 shares of company stock valued at $8,233,034. Company insiders own 0.29% 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.