Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC Has $13.54 Million Stock Position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC cut its stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 6.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 37,329 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 2,485 shares during the period. Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $13,541,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in Caterpillar by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 635,750 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $231,686,000 after purchasing an additional 10,212 shares during the period. West Wealth Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the fourth quarter worth $230,000. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI boosted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 43.0% in the third quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 13,902 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,437,000 after acquiring an additional 4,181 shares during the period. Cadinha & Co. LLC acquired a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the fourth quarter valued at about $11,084,000. Finally, Atomi Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Caterpillar by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 23,193 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $8,414,000 after acquiring an additional 871 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

Shares of Caterpillar stock opened at $343.90 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $365.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $372.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $164.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.12. Caterpillar Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $307.05 and a fifty-two week high of $418.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 0.89.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st were paid a $1.41 dividend. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, January 21st. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.56%.

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In other news, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,425 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now owns 6,275 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,225,742.50. This represents a 27.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $380.09, for a total value of $3,800,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 45,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,173,226.38. This trade represents a 18.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CAT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $455.00 to $438.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup increased their price target on Caterpillar from $420.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Caterpillar from $365.00 to $375.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. StockNews.com lowered Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $515.00 to $490.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $383.80.

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.