Contravisory Investment Management Inc. Acquires 20,749 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Contravisory Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 1,619.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 22,030 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 20,749 shares during the period. Contravisory Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $7,992,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CAT. RMR Wealth Builders increased its holdings in Caterpillar by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. RMR Wealth Builders now owns 1,475 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $535,000 after buying an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. ERn Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 14.6% in the fourth quarter. ERn Financial LLC now owns 645 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $234,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the period. BluePath Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Caterpillar by 24.0% in the fourth quarter. BluePath Capital Management LLC now owns 3,056 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,108,000 after acquiring an additional 592 shares during the period. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Caterpillar by 155.0% in the fourth quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 1,609 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $584,000 after purchasing an additional 978 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rockingstone Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Rockingstone Advisors LLC now owns 1,283 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $465,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Caterpillar

In related news, insider Lange Bob De sold 12,657 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 71,107 shares in the company, valued at $29,171,646.75. This trade represents a 15.11 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 6,279 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $408.59, for a total transaction of $2,565,536.61. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 33,565 shares in the company, valued at $13,714,323.35. The trade was a 15.76 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 23,868 shares of company stock valued at $9,679,489 in the last quarter. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on CAT. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $285.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. StockNews.com lowered Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. Morgan Stanley downgraded Caterpillar from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $349.00 to $332.00 in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $455.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price target on Caterpillar from $454.00 to $471.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Caterpillar has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $381.67.

Caterpillar Price Performance

NYSE CAT opened at $374.81 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $180.96 billion, a PE ratio of 17.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.13. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $380.79 and its 200-day moving average price is $366.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.40. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52-week low of $276.94 and a 52-week high of $418.50.

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

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be issued a dividend of $1.41 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 21st. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.50%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.15%.

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.