Kozak & Associates Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Kozak & Associates Inc. lowered its stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 5.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,585 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 89 shares during the quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $577,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of CAT. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the second quarter worth $36,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC increased its stake in Caterpillar by 42.9% in the third quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC now owns 100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. lifted its position in Caterpillar by 47.2% during the third quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 156 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $61,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, HWG Holdings LP acquired a new stake in Caterpillar in the 2nd quarter worth about $54,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE CAT traded up $0.58 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $364.37. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 788,758 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,315,992. Caterpillar Inc. has a twelve month low of $276.94 and a twelve month high of $418.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $175.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.89, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.13. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $384.44 and a 200 day moving average of $364.57.

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

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be paid a $1.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 21st. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.55%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is 26.15%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Lange Bob De sold 12,657 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $410.25, for a total value of $5,192,534.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 71,107 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,171,646.75. The trade was a 15.11 % 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, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 968 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $380.98, for a total transaction 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 23,868 shares of company stock valued at $9,679,489 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Caterpillar from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $349.00 to $332.00 in a report on Monday, October 14th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Caterpillar from $455.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Evercore ISI lowered shares of Caterpillar from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $321.00 to $365.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $285.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $454.00 to $471.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $384.33.

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.