Freedom Investment Management Inc. Purchases 401 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Freedom Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 10.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,312 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 401 shares during the quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $1,564,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new position in Caterpillar in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC purchased a new stake in Caterpillar during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Caterpillar

In other news, Director Gerald Johnson purchased 100 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $365.57 per share, for a total transaction of $36,557.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 3,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,116,085.21. This trade represents a 3.39 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,425 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $354.70, for a total value of $860,147.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,275 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,225,742.50. This trade represents a 27.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CAT has been the topic of a number of research reports. Raymond James upgraded shares of Caterpillar from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Caterpillar from $365.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Wedbush upgraded Caterpillar to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Truist Financial lowered their target price on Caterpillar from $438.00 to $389.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Caterpillar from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $355.00 to $385.00 in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $361.64.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

Caterpillar stock opened at $293.82 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $140.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.21. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1-year low of $267.30 and a 1-year high of $418.50. The company’s 50-day moving average is $327.08 and its 200 day moving average is $363.98.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.97 by $0.17. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 58.18% and a net margin of 16.65%. Research analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 21st will be paid a dividend of $1.41 per share. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.92%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 21st. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.56%.

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.