Objective Capital Management LLC Takes $717,000 Position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Objective Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 1,832 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $717,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Caterpillar by 17.2% during the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 9,037 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,308,000 after buying an additional 1,327 shares during the period. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC boosted its position in Caterpillar by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC now owns 116,566 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $45,591,000 after buying an additional 6,212 shares during the period. First Affirmative Financial Network purchased a new stake in Caterpillar during the 3rd quarter valued at $204,000. Inspire Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 25.8% in the 3rd quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 8,266 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,233,000 after purchasing an additional 1,694 shares during the period. Finally, Jackson Square Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 33.7% in the 3rd quarter. Jackson Square Capital LLC now owns 16,581 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $6,485,000 after purchasing an additional 4,182 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In other news, insider Cheryl H. Johnson sold 2,975 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $342.48, for a total transaction of $1,018,878.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 15,615 shares in the company, valued at $5,347,825.20. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 968 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $380.98, for a total transaction of $368,788.64. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,686 shares in the company, valued at $642,332.28. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Cheryl H. Johnson sold 2,975 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $342.48, for a total transaction of $1,018,878.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 15,615 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,347,825.20. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 23,749 shares of company stock valued at $9,251,912 over the last 90 days. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on CAT. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $376.00 to $434.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $338.00 to $321.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $399.00 to $456.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Caterpillar from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $349.00 to $332.00 in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $362.40.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

Shares of CAT traded down $14.84 on Friday, reaching $393.37. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,345,862 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,631,940. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $190.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.24, a PEG ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.10. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $376.80 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $352.75. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12-month low of $233.82 and a 12-month high of $418.50.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.17 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.33 by ($0.16). Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.26% and a return on equity of 59.09%. The firm had revenue of $16.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.37 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.52 EPS. Caterpillar’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 21st will be issued a dividend of $1.41 per share. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 21st. Caterpillar’s dividend 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.