Cadent Capital Advisors LLC Cuts Position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Cadent Capital Advisors LLC decreased its position in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 1.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 2,715 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 33 shares during the period. Cadent Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $985,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In related news, Director Gerald Johnson purchased 100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $398.57 per share, for a total transaction of $39,857.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 2,953 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,176,977.21. This represents a 3.51 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Cheryl H. Johnson sold 2,664 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $378.84, for a total transaction of $1,009,229.76. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 12,951 shares in the company, valued at $4,906,356.84. This represents a 17.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 23,868 shares of company stock worth $9,679,489 in the last three months. 0.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Caterpillar Stock Up 2.9 %

Shares of Caterpillar stock traded up $10.02 during trading on Monday, reaching $361.02. The company had a trading volume of 1,282,572 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,742,725. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.40. The company has a market cap of $174.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.13. Caterpillar Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $276.94 and a fifty-two week high of $418.50. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $382.16 and its 200-day moving average is $365.69.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.17 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.33 by ($0.16). The business had revenue of $16.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.37 billion. Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.26% and a return on equity of 59.09%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $5.52 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.68 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be given a dividend of $1.41 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 21st. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.56%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.15%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CAT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $455.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Caterpillar from $454.00 to $471.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on Caterpillar from $435.00 to $460.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $384.33.

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.