Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 5,878 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 0.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 723,776 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 5,878 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.15% of Caterpillar worth $262,557,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Goldstone Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Caterpillar in the 3rd quarter valued at $619,000. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Caterpillar by 4.3% in the third quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,761 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $689,000 after buying an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in Caterpillar by 6.6% during the third quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,159 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,018,000 after buying an additional 321 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in Caterpillar by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 111,400 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $43,571,000 after acquiring an additional 9,572 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Calton & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the 3rd quarter valued at about $3,911,000. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on CAT. Robert W. Baird raised 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. StockNews.com raised shares of Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $330.00 to $300.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Truist Financial lowered their price target on Caterpillar from $455.00 to $438.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Bank of America cut their price objective on Caterpillar from $452.00 to $414.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $383.13.

Caterpillar Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:CAT opened at $353.31 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $372.47 and its 200 day moving average is $372.14. The company has a market cap of $170.58 billion, a PE ratio of 16.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 0.89. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1 year low of $307.05 and a 1 year high of $418.50.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.97 by $0.17. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 58.18% and a net margin of 16.65%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 20.05 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be paid a dividend of $1.41 per share. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 21st. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is 25.56%.

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In other news, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of the business’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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 45,182 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,173,226.38. The trade was a 18.12 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 6,279 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $408.59, for a total transaction of $2,565,536.61. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 33,565 shares in the company, valued at $13,714,323.35. This represents a 15.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.