Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC Raises Position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC grew its position in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 130.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 115 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $42,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 0.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,213,455 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,987,206,000 after acquiring an additional 67,148 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 8,952,632 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,501,554,000 after buying an additional 205,012 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in shares of Caterpillar by 2.0% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,862,443 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,286,582,000 after buying an additional 75,973 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in Caterpillar by 1.8% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,627,513 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,418,793,000 after acquiring an additional 64,452 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Caterpillar by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,227,378 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,262,290,000 after acquiring an additional 8,088 shares during the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on CAT shares. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $455.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Truist Financial reduced their target price on Caterpillar from $471.00 to $455.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley downgraded Caterpillar from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $349.00 to $332.00 in a report on Monday, October 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Caterpillar from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $299.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $380.60.

Caterpillar Stock Up 1.4 %

CAT stock opened at $386.03 on Friday. 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 firm has a market cap of $186.38 billion, a PE ratio of 17.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.13. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12 month low of $277.66 and a 12 month high of $418.50. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $380.09 and a 200 day simple moving average of $366.76.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.17 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.37 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $5.52 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be given a dividend of $1.41 per share. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 21st. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is 26.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Gerald Johnson purchased 100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $398.57 per share, for a total transaction of $39,857.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 2,953 shares in the company, valued at $1,176,977.21. This trade represents a 3.51 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 968 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $380.98, for a total transaction of $368,788.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,686 shares in the company, valued at $642,332.28. This trade represents a 36.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 33,868 shares of company stock valued at $13,480,389. 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.