Telos Capital Management Inc. Trims Stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Telos Capital Management Inc. lowered its stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 2.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,461 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 75 shares during the quarter. Telos Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $1,023,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in Caterpillar in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $96,000. Tyche Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the 4th quarter worth $1,985,000. Avior Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 25.8% during the 4th quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,339 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $692,000 after purchasing an additional 479 shares during the period. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,616 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $774,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Finally, Main Street Research LLC lifted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Main Street Research LLC now owns 86,303 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $25,517,000 after purchasing an additional 1,464 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE:CAT opened at $358.33 on Thursday. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12 month low of $204.04 and a 12 month high of $382.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $178.95 billion, a PE ratio of 17.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 0.87. The business’s 50-day moving average is $345.24 and its two-hundred day moving average is $296.78.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The industrial products company reported $5.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.76 by $0.47. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 56.99% and a net margin of 15.41%. The business had revenue of $17.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.06 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.86 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Investors of record on Monday, April 22nd will be paid a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 19th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.45%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.82%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on CAT. Evercore ISI lowered Caterpillar from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $321.00 to $338.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Caterpillar from $255.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. StockNews.com downgraded Caterpillar from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Truist Financial assumed coverage on Caterpillar in a report on Thursday, March 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $390.00 price objective for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Caterpillar from $385.00 to $435.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $307.56.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Caterpillar news, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 4,575 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $329.80, for a total value of $1,508,835.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 23,474 shares in the company, valued at $7,741,725.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Caterpillar news, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 4,575 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $329.80, for a total value of $1,508,835.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 23,474 shares in the company, valued at $7,741,725.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Lange Bob De sold 21,194 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now owns 61,092 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,886,667.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 45,769 shares of company stock worth $14,509,306. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.