Allen Capital Group LLC Grows Position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Allen Capital Group LLC raised its stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 0.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,247 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the quarter. Allen Capital Group LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $1,541,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Ascent Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 19.3% during the second quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 953 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $317,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the period. Invst LLC purchased a new stake in Caterpillar during the 2nd quarter worth $229,000. EP Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Caterpillar by 11.1% in the 2nd quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 11,632 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,874,000 after buying an additional 1,166 shares during the last quarter. Regency Capital Management Inc. DE grew its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 8.1% during the second quarter. Regency Capital Management Inc. DE now owns 10,996 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,663,000 after acquiring an additional 825 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advisory Alpha LLC increased its position in shares of Caterpillar by 17.1% during the second quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 4,081 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,360,000 after acquiring an additional 595 shares during the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 968 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $380.98, for a total value of $368,788.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,686 shares in the company, valued at $642,332.28. This represents a 36.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Cheryl H. Johnson sold 2,664 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $378.84, for a total value of $1,009,229.76. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,906,356.84. This trade represents a 17.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 33,868 shares of company stock valued at $13,480,389 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CAT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $471.00 to $455.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Caterpillar from an “underperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $365.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Caterpillar from $455.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Caterpillar from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $384.60.

Caterpillar Trading Up 1.5 %

Caterpillar stock opened at $396.17 on Wednesday. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12-month low of $299.93 and a 12-month high of $418.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $191.27 billion, a PE ratio of 18.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.13. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $381.27 and a 200-day simple moving average of $370.23. 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 posted 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 business had revenue of $16.11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.37 billion. Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.26% and a return on equity of 59.09%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $5.52 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be given a dividend of $1.41 per share. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.42%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 21st. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.