Miracle Mile Advisors LLC Sells 325 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Miracle Mile Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 1.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 22,562 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 325 shares during the quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $7,441,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. RDA Financial Network raised its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 10.1% in the first quarter. RDA Financial Network now owns 3,245 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,070,000 after purchasing an additional 298 shares during the last quarter. Whitaker Myers Wealth Managers LTD. purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the first quarter worth $468,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 5.4% in the first quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,151 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $380,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. raised its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 6.6% in the first quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. now owns 1,355 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $447,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors raised its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 2.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors now owns 3,548 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,170,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Caterpillar news, Director David Maclennan acquired 375 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $320.70 per share, for a total transaction of $120,262.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,653 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,133,617.10. The trade was a 5.97% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on CAT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Caterpillar from $490.00 to $380.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on Caterpillar from $325.00 to $331.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Wall Street Zen lowered Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $396.00 price objective (up previously from $389.00) on shares of Caterpillar in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on Caterpillar from $320.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $372.92.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

NYSE:CAT opened at $353.49 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $320.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $349.69. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52-week low of $267.30 and a 52-week 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 capitalization of $166.51 billion, a PE ratio of 16.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.37.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $4.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.35 by ($0.10). Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.65% and a return on equity of 58.18%. The company had revenue of $14.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.60 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 21st were given a $1.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 21st. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.60%. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is 27.49%.

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.