Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) Shares Acquired by Salem Investment Counselors Inc.

Salem Investment Counselors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 0.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 42,229 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the period. Salem Investment Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $15,319,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in CAT. Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the second quarter worth $36,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the third quarter worth $36,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC increased its position in shares of Caterpillar by 42.9% during the third quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC now owns 100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. HWG Holdings LP acquired a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the second quarter worth $54,000. Finally, SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. increased its position in shares of Caterpillar by 47.2% in the 3rd quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 156 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on CAT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Caterpillar from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. UBS Group upped their target price on Caterpillar from $285.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Truist Financial increased their price target on Caterpillar from $454.00 to $471.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Caterpillar from $299.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Caterpillar from $455.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Caterpillar currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $384.33.

Caterpillar Price Performance

Caterpillar stock traded up $9.62 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $360.62. The company had a trading volume of 1,130,139 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,724,001. The company has a market capitalization of $174.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.13. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12-month low of $276.94 and a 12-month high of $418.50. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $382.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $365.69. 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 (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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.33 by ($0.16). The company 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%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $5.52 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.68 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be paid 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 26.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In other Caterpillar news, insider Lange Bob De sold 12,657 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 71,107 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,171,646.75. This represents a 15.11 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, 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 sale, the director now owns 4,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,079,968. The trade was a 20.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 23,868 shares of company stock worth $9,679,489. Insiders own 0.29% 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.