Board of the Pension Protection Fund Acquires Shares of 1,600 Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 1,600 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $580,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Rockland Trust Co. grew its stake in Caterpillar by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 4,950 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,796,000 after buying an additional 310 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 15,714 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,700,000 after acquiring an additional 755 shares in the last quarter. Pines Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Caterpillar during the 4th quarter worth approximately $439,000. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Caterpillar by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,632 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,494,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Accurate Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Caterpillar by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. Accurate Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,478 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,924,000 after purchasing an additional 364 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on CAT shares. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Caterpillar from $299.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $285.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $454.00 to $471.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Morgan Stanley downgraded Caterpillar from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $349.00 to $332.00 in a report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on Caterpillar from $376.00 to $434.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $381.67.

Insider Activity

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

Caterpillar Trading Up 2.3 %

CAT opened at $370.79 on Wednesday. Caterpillar Inc. has a twelve month low of $276.94 and a twelve month high of $418.50. The firm has a market cap of $179.02 billion, a PE ratio of 17.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.40. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $381.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $366.20.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last posted its 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.37 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $5.52 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.68 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 21st. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is currently 26.15%.

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.