Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC Reduces Stock Position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 2.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,433 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 36 shares during the period. Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $520,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Caterpillar by 39,534.0% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,136,667 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $8,356,930,000 after purchasing an additional 2,131,276 shares during the last quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 3,319.7% in the 2nd quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 275,011 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $91,606,000 after purchasing an additional 266,969 shares during the period. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI grew its position in Caterpillar by 4,018.6% during the third quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 255,355 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $99,874,000 after buying an additional 249,155 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Caterpillar by 2.3% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 8,952,632 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,501,554,000 after buying an additional 205,012 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec raised its position in Caterpillar by 34.4% in the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 782,133 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $305,908,000 after acquiring an additional 200,210 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

NYSE:CAT opened at $360.75 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $174.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.72, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.13. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1 year low of $276.94 and a 1 year high of $418.50. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $382.73 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $365.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 0.86.

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

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on CAT shares. 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. Evercore ISI cut Caterpillar from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $321.00 to $365.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $455.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $454.00 to $471.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $384.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Caterpillar news, Director Gerald Johnson bought 100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $398.57 per share, for a total transaction of $39,857.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,953 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,176,977.21. This represents a 3.51 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 968 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $380.98, for a total value of $368,788.64. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,686 shares in the company, valued at approximately $642,332.28. This represents a 36.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 23,868 shares of company stock valued at $9,679,489 over the last ninety days. 0.29% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.