Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC Reduces Holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC lowered its position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 19.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 375 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 90 shares during the quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $136,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Caterpillar by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,213,455 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,987,206,000 after buying an additional 67,148 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Caterpillar by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 8,952,632 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,501,554,000 after acquiring an additional 205,012 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in shares of Caterpillar by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,862,443 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,286,582,000 after purchasing an additional 75,973 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in shares of Caterpillar by 1.8% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,627,513 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,418,793,000 after buying an additional 64,452 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Caterpillar by 0.3% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,227,378 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,262,290,000 after buying an additional 8,088 shares during the period. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on CAT. Evercore ISI cut Caterpillar from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $321.00 to $365.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $299.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com cut shares of Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $454.00 to $471.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Caterpillar from $285.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $384.33.

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In other Caterpillar news, Director Gerald Johnson bought 100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $398.57 per share, for a total transaction of $39,857.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 2,953 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,176,977.21. This trade represents a 3.51 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Cheryl H. Johnson sold 2,664 shares of the business’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 transaction, the insider now owns 12,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,906,356.84. This represents a 17.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 23,868 shares of company stock valued at $9,679,489. 0.29% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Caterpillar Stock Down 2.9 %

CAT stock traded down $10.53 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $350.54. The stock had a trading volume of 2,066,610 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,681,740. The business has a 50-day moving average of $382.73 and a two-hundred day moving average of $365.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The firm has a market cap of $169.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.13. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52-week low of $276.94 and a 52-week high of $418.50.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.33 by ($0.16). Caterpillar had a return on equity of 59.09% and a net margin of 16.26%. The business had revenue of $16.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.37 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $5.52 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.68 earnings per share 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 paid a $1.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 21st. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.61%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.15%.

Caterpillar Company 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.