Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Sells 6,369 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC reduced its stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 1.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 437,702 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 6,369 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $129,415,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Caterpillar by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 8,145,840 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,408,481,000 after acquiring an additional 179,908 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 1.6% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,962,809 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,900,847,000 after purchasing an additional 111,384 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 0.7% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,830,849 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,864,823,000 after purchasing an additional 47,258 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 14.9% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,038,207 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,648,431,000 after purchasing an additional 781,111 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 28,603.5% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,494,018 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,417,360,000 after purchasing an additional 1,488,813 shares in the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Caterpillar

In other Caterpillar news, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 4,575 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $329.80, for a total value of $1,508,835.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 23,474 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,741,725.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 4,575 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $329.80, for a total value of $1,508,835.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 23,474 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,741,725.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director David Maclennan purchased 350 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $323.37 per share, with a total value of $113,179.50. Following the purchase, the director now owns 5,238 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,693,812.06. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 35,769 shares of company stock valued at $11,508,906. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CAT traded up $3.11 on Thursday, reaching $334.18. 916,294 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,506,551. The company has a fifty day moving average of $351.36 and a 200-day moving average of $302.43. Caterpillar Inc. has a twelve month low of $205.60 and a twelve month high of $382.01. The company has a market capitalization of $163.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.95, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $5.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.12 by $0.48. The firm had revenue of $15.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.07 billion. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 58.61% and a net margin of 16.79%. On average, research analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 22nd will be given a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 19th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.56%. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is 23.48%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CAT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Evercore ISI lowered shares of Caterpillar from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $321.00 to $338.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Caterpillar in a report on Monday, January 8th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $270.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Caterpillar from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Truist Financial initiated coverage on shares of Caterpillar in a report on Thursday, March 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $390.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $255.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $323.35.

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.