Banco Santander S.A. Has $35.12 Million Stock Position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Banco Santander S.A. increased its position in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 5.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 96,819 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 5,112 shares during the quarter. Banco Santander S.A.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $35,122,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CAT. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Caterpillar during the 4th quarter worth approximately $353,231,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in Caterpillar by 50,072.7% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 804,770 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $291,938,000 after buying an additional 803,166 shares during the period. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI raised its stake in Caterpillar by 4,018.6% during the 3rd quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 255,355 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $99,874,000 after buying an additional 249,155 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC increased its holdings in Caterpillar by 36,168.5% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 227,041 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $82,361,000 after purchasing an additional 226,415 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Caterpillar by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 8,952,632 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,501,554,000 after purchasing an additional 205,012 shares in the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on CAT. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Caterpillar from $330.00 to $300.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group raised Caterpillar from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $355.00 to $385.00 in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Caterpillar from $365.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on Caterpillar from $350.00 to $357.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Caterpillar from $455.00 to $438.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $383.80.

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In other Caterpillar news, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $380.09, for a total transaction of $3,800,900.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 45,182 shares in the company, valued at $17,173,226.38. This represents a 18.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Gerald Johnson bought 100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were bought at an average price of $365.57 per share, for a total transaction of $36,557.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,116,085.21. This represents a 3.39 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Caterpillar Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CAT opened at $350.97 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $363.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $372.57. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1-year low of $307.05 and a 1-year high of $418.50. The firm has a market cap of $167.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.97 by $0.17. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 58.18% and a net margin of 16.65%. Analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st were issued a dividend of $1.41 per share. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, January 21st. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.56%.

Caterpillar 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.