Certuity LLC Purchases 2,410 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Certuity LLC increased its holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 66.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,036 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,410 shares during the period. Certuity LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $2,190,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Carnegie Investment Counsel boosted its stake in Caterpillar by 24.3% in the third quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 2,677 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,047,000 after acquiring an additional 524 shares during the last quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH lifted its stake in Caterpillar by 99.4% in the third quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH now owns 1,747 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $683,000 after purchasing an additional 871 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Asset Management LLC increased its position in Caterpillar by 3.4% in the third quarter. Empirical Asset Management LLC now owns 1,373 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $537,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC raised its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 26.4% in the third quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 1,187 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $464,000 after buying an additional 248 shares during the period. Finally, CX Institutional lifted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 872.0% during the 3rd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 26,788 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $10,477,000 after buying an additional 24,032 shares during the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CAT has been the topic of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $330.00 to $300.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $420.00 to $430.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. DA Davidson raised their price target on Caterpillar from $350.00 to $357.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on 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. cut their target price on Caterpillar from $515.00 to $490.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $383.13.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

NYSE:CAT opened at $362.61 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.42. Caterpillar Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $307.05 and a fifty-two week high of $418.50. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $375.80 and a 200-day moving average price of $371.86. The firm has a market cap of $175.07 billion, a PE ratio of 16.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.12.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.97 by $0.17. Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.65% and a return on equity of 58.18%. Equities research analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 20.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders 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 yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 21st. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is 25.56%.

Insider Transactions at Caterpillar

In other news, Director Gerald Johnson bought 100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $398.57 per share, with a total value of $39,857.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 2,953 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,176,977.21. The trade was a 3.51 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $380.09, for a total value of $3,800,900.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 45,182 shares in the company, valued at $17,173,226.38. This represents a 18.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

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.