Sigma Planning Corp Sells 17,509 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Sigma Planning Corp lessened its position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 56.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 13,647 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 17,509 shares during the period. Sigma Planning Corp’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $4,035,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CAT. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 130,632.5% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 9,784,017 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,343,859,000 after acquiring an additional 9,776,533 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 1.6% in 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 acquiring an additional 111,384 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 0.7% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,830,849 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,864,823,000 after acquiring an additional 47,258 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 14.9% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,038,207 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,648,431,000 after acquiring an additional 781,111 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 1.7% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,440,783 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $892,724,000 after acquiring an additional 92,360 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on CAT shares. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Caterpillar in a research note on Monday, January 8th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $270.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Caterpillar from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $357.00 to $408.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Truist Financial began coverage on shares of Caterpillar in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $390.00 target price for the company. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $210.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $307.56.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

Shares of CAT traded down $1.96 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $354.66. The company had a trading volume of 2,929,591 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,086,614. The firm has a market cap of $177.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.61, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.17. The business has a fifty day moving average of $346.70 and a 200-day moving average of $297.99. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12 month low of $204.04 and a 12 month high of $382.01. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 5th. The industrial products company reported $5.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.76 by $0.47. The company had revenue of $17.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.06 billion. Caterpillar had a net margin of 15.41% and a return on equity of 56.99%. The company’s revenue was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.86 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 22nd will be given a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 19th. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is presently 25.82%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.10, for a total value of $3,101,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 57,317 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,774,001.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Caterpillar news, Director David Maclennan purchased 350 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $323.37 per share, with a total value of $113,179.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 5,238 shares in the company, valued at $1,693,812.06. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.10, for a total transaction of $3,101,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 57,317 shares in the company, valued at $17,774,001.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 45,769 shares of company stock valued at $14,509,306 over the last ninety days. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.