Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) Shares Sold by Conning Inc.

Conning Inc. decreased its holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 15.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 98,293 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 18,152 shares during the quarter. Caterpillar accounts for about 1.2% of Conning Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest position. Conning Inc.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $35,657,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Caterpillar by 0.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,213,455 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,987,206,000 after buying an additional 67,148 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 205,012 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in Caterpillar by 1.8% during the 3rd 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 purchasing an additional 64,452 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Caterpillar by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,227,378 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,262,290,000 after purchasing an additional 8,088 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in Caterpillar by 39,534.0% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,136,667 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $8,356,930,000 after purchasing an additional 2,131,276 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on CAT. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Caterpillar from an “underperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $365.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. StockNews.com cut shares of Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $350.00 to $357.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $455.00 to $438.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $515.00 to $490.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $383.13.

Caterpillar Stock Down 0.4 %

CAT opened at $363.84 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $377.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $371.18. Caterpillar Inc. has a twelve month low of $307.05 and a twelve month high of $418.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.42. The firm has a market cap of $175.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.12.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last posted its 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 21.45 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be issued a $1.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 21st. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.55%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.56%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Caterpillar news, Director Gerald Johnson purchased 100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $365.57 per share, with a total value of $36,557.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,053 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,116,085.21. This represents a 3.39 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 6,279 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $408.59, for a total value of $2,565,536.61. Following the sale, the insider now owns 33,565 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,714,323.35. This represents a 15.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

About Caterpillar

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.