Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) Stock Position Lifted by Goldstone Financial Group LLC

Goldstone Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 29.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 2,042 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 460 shares during the quarter. Goldstone Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $741,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of CAT. Fairscale Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the 2nd quarter worth $36,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in Caterpillar in the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC boosted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 42.9% during the 3rd quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC now owns 100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. HWG Holdings LP acquired a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $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 worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Stock Up 1.6 %

Caterpillar stock opened at $380.85 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $183.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.13. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1-year low of $276.94 and a 1-year high of $418.50. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $380.24 and its 200-day simple moving average is $366.36. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.17 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.33 by ($0.16). The company had revenue of $16.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.52 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be issued a dividend of $1.41 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 21st. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.48%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.15%.

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In related news, Director Gerald Johnson acquired 100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were bought at an average price of $398.57 per share, for a total transaction of $39,857.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 2,953 shares in the company, valued at $1,176,977.21. This trade represents a 3.51 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Daniel M. Dickinson sold 1,300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 4,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,079,968. The trade was a 20.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 23,868 shares of company stock worth $9,679,489. 0.29% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on CAT. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Caterpillar from an “underperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $365.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday. Morgan Stanley lowered Caterpillar from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $349.00 to $332.00 in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Caterpillar from $299.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $455.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $471.00 to $455.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $380.60.

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.