Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) Position Increased by D Orazio & Associates Inc.

D Orazio & Associates Inc. increased its stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 12.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 949 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 104 shares during the quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $344,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CAT. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Caterpillar in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Albion Financial Group UT boosted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 334.8% during the fourth quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the period. Kimelman & Baird LLC increased its position in Caterpillar by 42.9% in the 3rd quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC now owns 100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. Finally, Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC raised its stake in Caterpillar by 130.0% during the 4th quarter. Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC now owns 115 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Caterpillar Trading Down 0.4 %

Caterpillar stock opened at $363.84 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $377.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $371.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.42. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52 week low of $307.05 and a 52 week high of $418.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $175.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.12.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.97 by $0.17. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 58.18% and a net margin of 16.65%. Research analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.45 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be issued a dividend of $1.41 per share. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.55%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 21st. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.56%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In other news, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 6,279 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 33,565 shares in the company, valued at $13,714,323.35. The trade was a 15.76 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $380.09, for a total transaction of $3,800,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 45,182 shares in the company, valued at $17,173,226.38. The trade was a 18.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI raised Caterpillar from an “underperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $365.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $452.00 to $414.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $455.00 to $438.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective 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, UBS Group upgraded Caterpillar from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $355.00 to $385.00 in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $383.13.

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.