Mizuho Securities USA LLC Trims Holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Mizuho Securities USA LLC reduced its stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 16.6% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 31,443 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 6,264 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $12,298,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Caterpillar during the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. purchased a new position in Caterpillar during the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Fairscale Capital LLC purchased a new position in Caterpillar during the second quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in Caterpillar in the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, POM Investment Strategies LLC grew its holdings in Caterpillar by 2,160.0% in the second quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 113 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the period. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CAT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Evercore ISI lowered Caterpillar from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $321.00 to $365.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. StockNews.com lowered Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Caterpillar from $285.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Morgan Stanley lowered Caterpillar from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $349.00 to $332.00 in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price target on Caterpillar from $399.00 to $456.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $365.33.

Caterpillar Price Performance

NYSE:CAT opened at $381.44 on Thursday. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52 week low of $241.81 and a 52 week high of $418.50. 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 company has a market capitalization of $184.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.10. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $384.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $355.22.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.33 by ($0.16). The firm had revenue of $16.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.37 billion. Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.26% and a return on equity of 59.09%. Caterpillar’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $5.52 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.68 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Investors of record on Monday, October 21st were issued a $1.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 21st. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.48%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Daniel M. Dickinson sold 1,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $418.00, for a total transaction of $543,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,079,968. This represents a 20.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Gerald Johnson acquired 100 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $338.59 per share, with a total value of $33,859.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 2,842 shares in the company, valued at approximately $962,272.78. This represents a 3.65 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold 20,774 shares of company stock valued at $8,233,034 in the last three months. 0.29% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.