Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd Decreases Holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd cut its stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 26.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 27,278 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 9,703 shares during the period. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $8,065,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in CAT. Waterway Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the 4th quarter worth $352,000. Farmers Trust Co. increased its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Farmers Trust Co. now owns 4,490 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,328,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Firethorn Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in Caterpillar by 19.4% in the 4th quarter. Firethorn Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,825 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $540,000 after buying an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Caterpillar by 20.0% during the fourth quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 21,343 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $6,310,000 after acquiring an additional 3,558 shares during the period. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Caterpillar by 7.8% during the fourth quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 1,074 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $318,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the period. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Caterpillar Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of Caterpillar stock traded down $1.51 on Wednesday, hitting $357.56. 706,135 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,456,135. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $356.48 and its 200-day moving average price is $313.06. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52 week low of $205.60 and a 52 week high of $382.01. The company has a market cap of $174.86 billion, a PE ratio of 16.12, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.19.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $5.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.12 by $0.48. Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.79% and a return on equity of 58.61%. The firm had revenue of $15.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.07 billion. Equities research analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.8 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 20th. Investors of record on Monday, April 22nd were paid a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 19th. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.48%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Caterpillar news, Director David Maclennan acquired 350 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was bought at an average price of $323.37 per share, with a total value of $113,179.50. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 5,238 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,693,812.06. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Caterpillar news, insider Lange Bob De sold 21,847 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $356.90, for a total value of $7,797,194.30. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 71,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,380,943.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director David Maclennan purchased 350 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $323.37 per share, for a total transaction of $113,179.50. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 5,238 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,693,812.06. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on CAT shares. Truist Financial started coverage on Caterpillar in a report on Thursday, March 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $390.00 price target on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus cut Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price target for the company from $293.00 to $350.00 in a report on Friday, April 26th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Caterpillar from $210.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. StockNews.com lowered Caterpillar from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Caterpillar in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $323.35.

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.