Advocate Group LLC Cuts Stock Position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Advocate Group LLC lowered its stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 2.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 17,442 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 478 shares during the quarter. Advocate Group LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $6,327,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Grimes & Company Inc. grew its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Grimes & Company Inc. now owns 3,354 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,217,000 after buying an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Caterpillar by 14.5% during the 4th quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 6,988 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,535,000 after purchasing an additional 883 shares during the last quarter. McGuire Investment Group LLC boosted its stake in Caterpillar by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. McGuire Investment Group LLC now owns 22,960 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $8,329,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Goelzer Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Caterpillar by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Goelzer Investment Management Inc. now owns 15,639 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,673,000 after purchasing an additional 395 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its stake in Caterpillar by 75.3% during the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 49,121 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $17,819,000 after purchasing an additional 21,094 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CAT has been the topic of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Caterpillar from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Caterpillar from $455.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Morgan Stanley cut Caterpillar from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $349.00 to $332.00 in a report on Monday, October 14th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Caterpillar from $471.00 to $455.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $380.60.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

CAT stock opened at $407.95 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $196.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.91, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $380.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $368.65. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1-year low of $293.13 and a 1-year high of $418.50.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.17 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.33 by ($0.16). The firm 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $5.52 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be paid a dividend of $1.41 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 21st. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.38%. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is 26.15%.

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In other Caterpillar news, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 968 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $380.98, for a total value of $368,788.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,686 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $642,332.28. The trade was a 36.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Daniel M. Dickinson sold 1,300 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $418.00, for a total transaction of $543,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,079,968. The trade was a 20.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 33,868 shares of company stock worth $13,480,389 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

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.