Stephens Consulting LLC Sells 101 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Stephens Consulting LLC reduced its stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 18.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 450 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 101 shares during the quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $163,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CAT. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Caterpillar during the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Caterpillar during the third quarter valued at $36,000. Albion Financial Group UT raised its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 334.8% in the fourth quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the period. Kimelman & Baird LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 42.9% in the 3rd quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC now owns 100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 130.0% during the 4th quarter. Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC now owns 115 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Daniel M. Dickinson sold 1,300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were 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 $2,079,968. This represents a 20.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $380.09, for a total value of $3,800,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 45,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,173,226.38. This trade represents a 18.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 30,236 shares of company stock valued at $12,102,371 over the last quarter. 0.29% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. UBS Group raised shares of Caterpillar from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $355.00 to $385.00 in a research note on Monday. Truist Financial decreased their price target on Caterpillar from $455.00 to $438.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Evercore ISI raised Caterpillar from an “underperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $365.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Caterpillar from $455.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $515.00 to $490.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $381.00.

Caterpillar Price Performance

NYSE:CAT opened at $361.62 on Tuesday. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52 week low of $307.05 and a 52 week high of $418.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $174.59 billion, a PE ratio of 16.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $380.88 and its 200-day moving average price is $371.17.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.97 by $0.17. Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.65% and a return on equity of 58.18%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 21st. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.56%.

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.