Live Oak Private Wealth LLC Cuts Position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Live Oak Private Wealth LLC lowered its position in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 2.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,555 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 76 shares during the period. Live Oak Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $1,290,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of CAT. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in 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 buying an additional 10,212 shares during the period. West Wealth Group LLC purchased a new stake in Caterpillar during the 4th quarter valued at about $230,000. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI grew its position in Caterpillar by 43.0% during 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 acquiring an additional 4,181 shares during the last quarter. Cadinha & Co. LLC purchased a new position in Caterpillar in the 4th quarter worth approximately $11,084,000. Finally, First Affirmative Financial Network purchased a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the third quarter valued at approximately $204,000. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Caterpillar news, Director Gerald Johnson purchased 100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $398.57 per share, for a total transaction of $39,857.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 2,953 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,176,977.21. This trade represents a 3.51 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 approximately $17,173,226.38. This trade represents a 18.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on CAT shares. UBS Group raised shares of Caterpillar from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $355.00 to $385.00 in a research note on Monday. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $420.00 to $430.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Evercore ISI raised Caterpillar from an “underperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $365.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Truist Financial lowered their price target on Caterpillar from $455.00 to $438.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Caterpillar from $515.00 to $490.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $383.13.

Caterpillar Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE CAT opened at $365.54 on Friday. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1 year low of $307.05 and a 1 year high of $418.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $378.20 and a 200 day moving average of $371.22. The stock has a market cap of $176.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.12.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The company 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 $1.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 21st. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.54%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.56%.

About Caterpillar

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.