Alberta Investment Management Corp Reduces Stock Holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Alberta Investment Management Corp lessened its stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 19.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,300 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 2,900 shares during the quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $4,462,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Goldstone Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $619,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 9.4% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 111,400 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $43,571,000 after buying an additional 9,572 shares during the period. Trilogy Capital Inc. raised its position in shares of Caterpillar by 4.9% during the third quarter. Trilogy Capital Inc. now owns 732 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $286,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the period. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Caterpillar by 8.9% during the third quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,831 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,672,000 after purchasing an additional 556 shares during the period. Finally, Eastern Bank raised its position in Caterpillar by 249.7% during the third quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 14,267 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,580,000 after buying an additional 10,187 shares during the period. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In other news, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,425 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $354.70, for a total transaction of $860,147.50. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 6,275 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,225,742.50. This trade represents a 27.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 6,279 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $408.59, for a total value of $2,565,536.61. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 33,565 shares in the company, valued at $13,714,323.35. The trade was a 15.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 18,704 shares of company stock worth $7,226,584 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Truist Financial lowered their target price on Caterpillar from $455.00 to $438.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $515.00 to $490.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target 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. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on Caterpillar from $420.00 to $430.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $383.80.

Caterpillar Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE CAT opened at $353.26 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.42. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52 week low of $307.05 and a 52 week high of $418.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $170.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.01, a PEG ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.12. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $370.89 and its 200 day moving average is $372.54.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

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