Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) Shares Sold by Welch & Forbes LLC

Welch & Forbes LLC trimmed its position in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 4.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,589 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,065 shares during the period. Welch & Forbes LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $7,832,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. FSM Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. FSM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 688 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $262,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Allen Capital Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Allen Capital Group LLC now owns 4,247 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,541,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares during the period. Wagner Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Wagner Wealth Management LLC now owns 668 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $242,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares during the period. Washington Trust Bank increased its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 1.2% during the third quarter. Washington Trust Bank now owns 2,349 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $919,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares during the period. Finally, Channel Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Channel Wealth LLC now owns 1,468 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $533,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares during the period. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on CAT. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $330.00 to $300.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com lowered shares of Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $420.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $455.00 to $438.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $350.00 to $357.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $383.80.

Caterpillar Trading Up 0.7 %

Caterpillar stock opened at $340.89 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $363.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $372.52. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52 week low of $307.05 and a 52 week high of $418.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $162.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.12.

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

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In other news, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,425 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $354.70, for a total transaction of $860,147.50. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 6,275 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,225,742.50. This trade represents a 27.87 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 16th. The shares were 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 owns 45,182 shares in the company, valued at $17,173,226.38. This represents a 18.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

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.