Truist Financial Corp Sells 5,230 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Truist Financial Corp lessened its stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 2.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 210,221 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 5,230 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $76,260,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on CAT. Bank of America decreased their target price on Caterpillar from $452.00 to $414.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $420.00 to $430.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $299.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com raised Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price objective on Caterpillar from $455.00 to $438.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $383.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Gerald Johnson bought 100 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $365.57 per share, for a total transaction of $36,557.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 3,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,116,085.21. The trade was a 3.39 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of Caterpillar 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 45,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,173,226.38. This trade represents a 18.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

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

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 20.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be issued a $1.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 21st. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.60%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.56%.

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.