Forsta AP Fonden Purchases 600 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Forsta AP Fonden lifted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 0.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 143,400 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the quarter. Forsta AP Fonden’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $52,020,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Ascent Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 19.3% during the 2nd quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 953 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $317,000 after buying an additional 154 shares during the period. Invst LLC acquired a new position in Caterpillar during the second quarter worth $229,000. EP Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 11.1% during the second quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 11,632 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,874,000 after acquiring an additional 1,166 shares during the period. Regency Capital Management Inc. DE grew its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 8.1% in the 2nd quarter. Regency Capital Management Inc. DE now owns 10,996 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,663,000 after purchasing an additional 825 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisory Alpha LLC increased its position in shares of Caterpillar by 17.1% during the 2nd quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 4,081 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,360,000 after purchasing an additional 595 shares in the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Caterpillar Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE CAT opened at $390.29 on Wednesday. Caterpillar Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $297.45 and a fifty-two week high of $418.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $188.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.13. 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 company’s 50 day simple moving average is $381.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $370.23.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last posted 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 period last year, the company earned $5.52 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.69 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be issued a dividend of $1.41 per share. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 21st. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.15%.

Insider Activity

In other Caterpillar news, Director Gerald Johnson purchased 100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were bought at an average price of $398.57 per share, with a total value of $39,857.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $380.09, for a total value of $3,800,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 45,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,173,226.38. This represents a 18.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 33,868 shares of company stock valued at $13,480,389 in the last ninety days. 0.29% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on CAT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Morgan Stanley lowered Caterpillar from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $349.00 to $332.00 in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Caterpillar from $455.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Caterpillar from $471.00 to $455.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $460.00 to $420.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $384.60.

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.