Covington Investment Advisors Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Covington Investment Advisors Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 89.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,475 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 13,070 shares during the period. Covington Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $5,349,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the 4th quarter valued at $2,184,364,000. Blair William & Co. IL lifted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 115,391 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $41,859,000 after acquiring an additional 1,174 shares in the last quarter. BCO Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the fourth quarter worth about $212,000. LM Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Caterpillar during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $467,000. Finally, AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Caterpillar in the 4th quarter worth approximately $248,000. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Caterpillar Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE CAT opened at $339.35 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $356.12 and its 200-day moving average price is $372.01. Caterpillar Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $307.05 and a fifty-two week high of $418.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.42. The company has a market cap of $162.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.38, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.15.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued 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 net margin of 16.65% and a return on equity of 58.18%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $515.00 to $490.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Wedbush raised shares of Caterpillar to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Raymond James upgraded shares of Caterpillar from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com lowered Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their target price on Caterpillar from $455.00 to $438.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Caterpillar presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $383.80.

Insider Activity

In other Caterpillar news, Director Gerald Johnson purchased 100 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $365.57 per share, for a total transaction of $36,557.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 3,053 shares in the company, valued at $1,116,085.21. This trade represents a 3.39 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,425 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $354.70, for a total transaction of $860,147.50. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 6,275 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,225,742.50. This represents a 27.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 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.