Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) Shares Acquired by Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC

Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC boosted its stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 8.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 32,874 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,459 shares during the period. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $9,720,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,962,809 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,900,847,000 after buying an additional 111,384 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 0.7% in the 3rd 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 period. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 14.9% in the 3rd 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 period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 28,603.5% in the 4th 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 acquiring an additional 1,488,813 shares during the period. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Caterpillar by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,399,888 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $382,168,000 after buying an additional 71,344 shares during the period. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Caterpillar news, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of the business’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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 57,317 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,774,001.70. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.10, for a total value of $3,101,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 57,317 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,774,001.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Lange Bob De sold 21,194 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $325.52, for a total value of $6,899,070.88. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 61,092 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,886,667.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 35,769 shares of company stock worth $11,508,906 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

CAT stock traded down $13.29 on Tuesday, reaching $336.51. 1,362,863 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,478,419. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12 month low of $205.60 and a 12 month high of $382.01. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $350.66 and its 200 day moving average price is $301.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $168.05 billion, a PE ratio of 15.20, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 0.83.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $5.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.12 by $0.48. Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.79% and a return on equity of 58.61%. The business had revenue of $15.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.07 billion. On average, research analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.55%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.48%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CAT has been the topic of several recent research reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Caterpillar from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $255.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $338.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Evercore ISI cut shares of Caterpillar from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $321.00 to $338.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Caterpillar in a report on Thursday, April 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Caterpillar has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $323.35.

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.