Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,227,378 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,088 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $1,262,290,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in CAT. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the second quarter valued at $28,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. acquired a new position in Caterpillar in the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Fairscale Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Caterpillar during the second quarter worth about $36,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, POM Investment Strategies LLC grew its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 2,160.0% in the second quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 113 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

Shares of CAT opened at $379.86 on Thursday. 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 Inc. has a one year low of $241.81 and a one year high of $418.50. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $384.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $355.22. The company has a market capitalization of $183.40 billion, a PE ratio of 17.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.10.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.33 by ($0.16). The company had revenue of $16.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $5.52 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 21st were given a dividend of $1.41 per share. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 21st. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 3,185 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $351.36, for a total value of $1,119,081.60. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 33,442 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,750,181.12. This represents a 8.70 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Gerald Johnson purchased 100 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was bought at an average price of $338.59 per share, for a total transaction of $33,859.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,842 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $962,272.78. This trade represents a 3.65 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 20,774 shares of company stock valued at $8,233,034 over the last ninety days. 0.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on CAT. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Caterpillar from $399.00 to $456.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Barclays upped their price target on Caterpillar from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Evercore ISI lowered 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 report on Wednesday, November 13th. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of 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 research report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $435.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $365.33.

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.