E Fund Management Co. Ltd. Cuts Stock Holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

E Fund Management Co. Ltd. lessened its holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 13.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 690 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 107 shares during the quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $204,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of CAT. Gilfoyle & Co LLC acquired a new position in Caterpillar during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC acquired a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the 4th quarter worth $39,000. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the third quarter valued at about $41,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new stake in Caterpillar during the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, Rational Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Caterpillar during the third quarter worth about $42,000. 70.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on CAT. Citigroup boosted their price target on Caterpillar from $255.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Caterpillar from $210.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $290.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Truist Financial started coverage on Caterpillar in a report on Thursday, March 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $390.00 target price on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com cut Caterpillar from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $323.35.

Caterpillar Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of CAT stock opened at $353.49 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $353.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $305.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 0.83. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1-year low of $205.60 and a 1-year high of $382.01. The firm has a market cap of $172.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.88, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.19.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $5.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.12 by $0.48. The company had revenue of $15.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.07 billion. Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.79% and a return on equity of 58.61%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.79 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 22nd will be paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 19th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.47%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.48%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 4,575 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $329.80, for a total transaction of $1,508,835.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 23,474 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,741,725.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 4,575 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $329.80, for a total value of $1,508,835.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 23,474 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,741,725.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director David Maclennan bought 350 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $323.37 per share, for a total transaction of $113,179.50. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 5,238 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,693,812.06. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.