Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) is Grassi Investment Management’s 10th Largest Position

Grassi Investment Management cut its holdings in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 0.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 66,954 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 200 shares during the quarter. Caterpillar makes up 2.1% of Grassi Investment Management’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest position. Grassi Investment Management’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $24,288,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 635,750 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $231,686,000 after acquiring an additional 10,212 shares during the last quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC raised its position in Caterpillar by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC now owns 116,566 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $45,591,000 after purchasing an additional 6,212 shares during the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI lifted its holdings in Caterpillar by 43.0% in the 3rd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 13,902 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,437,000 after buying an additional 4,181 shares during the period. First Affirmative Financial Network bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $204,000. Finally, Inspire Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 25.8% during the third quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 8,266 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,233,000 after buying an additional 1,694 shares during the period. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on CAT shares. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $454.00 to $471.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $376.00 to $434.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $455.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $435.00 to $460.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $384.33.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

Shares of CAT traded up $11.22 on Monday, reaching $362.22. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,520,301 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,777,629. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12-month low of $276.94 and a 12-month high of $418.50. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $382.16 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $365.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $174.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.79, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.13.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.33 by ($0.16). Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.26% and a return on equity of 59.09%. The company had revenue of $16.11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.37 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.52 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be paid 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 yield of 1.56%. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is 26.15%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 968 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,686 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $642,332.28. This trade represents a 36.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Lange Bob De sold 12,657 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $410.25, for a total transaction of $5,192,534.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 71,107 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,171,646.75. The trade was a 15.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 23,868 shares of company stock worth $9,679,489 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

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.