ARK Investment Management LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

ARK Investment Management LLC lowered its position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 3.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,856 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 756 shares during the quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $7,566,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the third quarter valued at $36,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC increased its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Albion Financial Group UT increased its position in shares of Caterpillar by 334.8% in the fourth quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 130.0% during the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on CAT shares. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Caterpillar from $365.00 to $375.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Caterpillar from $420.00 to $430.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Caterpillar from $455.00 to $438.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Caterpillar from $299.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, UBS Group raised Caterpillar from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $355.00 to $385.00 in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $383.80.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

Caterpillar stock opened at $342.37 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $367.25 and its 200-day moving average is $373.10. The company has a market cap of $163.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 0.89. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12 month low of $307.05 and a 12 month high of $418.50.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.14 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.97 by $0.17. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 58.18% and a net margin of 16.65%. Equities analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 21st were issued a dividend of $1.41 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, January 21st. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.65%. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is currently 25.56%.

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In related news, Director Gerald Johnson bought 100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $398.57 per share, for a total transaction of $39,857.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 2,953 shares in the company, valued at $1,176,977.21. This represents a 3.51 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 6,279 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $408.59, for a total value of $2,565,536.61. Following the sale, the insider now owns 33,565 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,714,323.35. The trade was a 15.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 18,704 shares of company stock worth $7,226,584. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Caterpillar 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.