Caterpillar Inc. $CAT Shares Acquired by Advisors Capital Management LLC

Advisors Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 77,083 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 1,186 shares during the period. Advisors Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $36,780,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. WealthShield Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 1.6% in the third quarter. WealthShield Partners LLC now owns 1,122 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $535,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the period. one8zero8 LLC boosted its position in Caterpillar by 3.2% in the third quarter. one8zero8 LLC now owns 619 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $295,000 after buying an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. increased its holdings in Caterpillar by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. now owns 3,214 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,534,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Cyr Financial Inc. raised its position in Caterpillar by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Cyr Financial Inc. now owns 811 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $387,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Coastwise Capital Group LLC lifted its stake in Caterpillar by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Coastwise Capital Group LLC now owns 1,168 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $557,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the period. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

NYSE CAT opened at $764.27 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $357.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.61, a PEG ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.58. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $641.06 and a 200 day moving average of $546.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44. Caterpillar Inc. has a twelve month low of $267.30 and a twelve month high of $789.81.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The industrial products company reported $5.16 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.67 by $0.49. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 45.76% and a net margin of 13.14%.The business had revenue of $19.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.81 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $5.14 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 17.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 19th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 20th will be issued a dividend of $1.51 per share. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 20th. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.09%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on CAT shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 7th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Caterpillar from $729.00 to $786.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Caterpillar from $702.00 to $756.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Caterpillar from $700.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $702.95.

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In other Caterpillar news, insider Lange Bob De sold 22,656 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $720.11, for a total transaction of $16,314,812.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 79,953 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $57,574,954.83. This represents a 22.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Denise C. Johnson sold 39,138 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $681.08, for a total value of $26,656,109.04. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 43,350 shares in the company, valued at $29,524,818. This represents a 47.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 138,436 shares of company stock worth $94,425,251 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Company Profile

Caterpillar Inc is a global manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines and locomotives. The company’s product portfolio includes earthmoving machines such as excavators, bulldozers, wheel loaders and off‑highway trucks, as well as a range of power generation products including generator sets and power systems for industrial and commercial use. Caterpillar serves customers across heavy construction, mining, energy, transportation and related industries with both equipment and integrated technology solutions.

In addition to manufacturing, Caterpillar provides a broad range of aftermarket parts and support services, including maintenance, repair, remanufacturing and fleet management tools.