Retirement Systems of Alabama Cuts Holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Retirement Systems of Alabama decreased its holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 8.4% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 243,773 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 22,395 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $95,344,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in CAT. Lantz Financial LLC increased its position in shares of Caterpillar by 2.9% in the second quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 4,181 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,393,000 after buying an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA lifted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 130.8% in the second quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA now owns 2,470 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $891,000 after purchasing an additional 1,400 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB increased its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 270,531 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $90,114,000 after purchasing an additional 5,699 shares in the last quarter. Silver Lake Advisory LLC purchased a new position in Caterpillar during the second quarter worth $322,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in Caterpillar by 13.8% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 154,103 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $51,332,000 after purchasing an additional 18,687 shares during the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Caterpillar

In related news, Director Gerald Johnson purchased 100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $398.57 per share, with a total value of $39,857.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 2,953 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,176,977.21. The trade was a 3.51 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Lange Bob De sold 12,657 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $410.25, for a total value of $5,192,534.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 71,107 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,171,646.75. The trade was a 15.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 23,868 shares of company stock valued at $9,679,489 in the last three months. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on CAT. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $299.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley downgraded Caterpillar from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their price target for the company from $349.00 to $332.00 in a report on Monday, October 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Caterpillar from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Truist Financial increased their target price on Caterpillar from $399.00 to $456.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $376.00 to $434.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $374.69.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

Shares of CAT stock opened at $381.99 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 0.86. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12-month low of $270.55 and a 12-month high of $418.50. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $392.83 and a 200 day simple moving average of $360.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $184.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.10.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.17 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.33 by ($0.16). The company had revenue of $16.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.37 billion. Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.26% and a return on equity of 59.09%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $5.52 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.68 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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 of this dividend is Tuesday, January 21st. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.48%. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is currently 26.15%.

Caterpillar 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.