Clean Yield Group Reduces Position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Clean Yield Group reduced its position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 13.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 218 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 33 shares during the quarter. Clean Yield Group’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $79,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new position in Caterpillar during the second quarter worth about $36,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in Caterpillar in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC raised its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 42.9% in the third quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC now owns 100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. HWG Holdings LP purchased a new stake in Caterpillar during the 2nd quarter worth about $54,000. Finally, SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. lifted its holdings in Caterpillar by 47.2% in the 3rd quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 156 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 968 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $380.98, for a total transaction of $368,788.64. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,686 shares in the company, valued at $642,332.28. This trade represents a 36.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Gerald Johnson bought 100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,953 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,176,977.21. This trade represents a 3.51 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 23,868 shares of company stock worth $9,679,489. 0.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America raised their price objective on Caterpillar from $376.00 to $434.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Evercore ISI upgraded Caterpillar from an “underperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $365.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday. Citigroup upped their price target on Caterpillar from $435.00 to $460.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Caterpillar from $454.00 to $471.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Caterpillar has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $384.33.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

CAT traded up $10.61 on Monday, hitting $361.61. 1,473,860 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,769,101. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $382.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $365.69. Caterpillar Inc. has a twelve month low of $276.94 and a twelve month high of $418.50. The firm has a market cap of $174.59 billion, a PE ratio of 16.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.13.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last announced 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). The company had revenue of $16.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.37 billion. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 59.09% and a net margin of 16.26%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $5.52 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 21st. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.15%.

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.