Diversify Wealth Management LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Diversify Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 36.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,992 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 535 shares during the period. Diversify Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $699,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Caterpillar in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC grew its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 42.9% during the 3rd quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC now owns 100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 130.0% during the 4th quarter. Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC now owns 115 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HWG Holdings LP acquired a new position in Caterpillar in the second quarter valued at $54,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 968 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $380.98, for a total value of $368,788.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,686 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $642,332.28. This represents a 36.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Cheryl H. Johnson sold 2,664 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $378.84, for a total value of $1,009,229.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,906,356.84. The trade was a 17.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 33,868 shares of company stock worth $13,480,389 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on CAT. Truist Financial dropped their price target on Caterpillar from $471.00 to $455.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $460.00 to $420.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Caterpillar from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $349.00 to $332.00 in a report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded Caterpillar from an “underperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $365.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $380.60.

Caterpillar Stock Up 3.3 %

Shares of Caterpillar stock opened at $398.67 on Wednesday. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12-month low of $286.10 and a 12-month high of $418.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $192.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.48, a PEG ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $379.88 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $367.68.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.17 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.33 by ($0.16). The business had revenue of $16.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.37 billion. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 59.09% and a net margin of 16.26%. Caterpillar’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.52 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be paid a $1.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 21st. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.41%. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is 26.15%.

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.