Financial & Tax Architects LLC Purchases 109 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Financial & Tax Architects LLC boosted its position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 17,923 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the period. Caterpillar comprises 1.7% of Financial & Tax Architects LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Financial & Tax Architects LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $6,502,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CAT. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 39,534.0% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,136,667 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $8,356,930,000 after buying an additional 2,131,276 shares in the last quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 3,319.7% during the 2nd quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 275,011 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $91,606,000 after buying an additional 266,969 shares in the last quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI lifted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 4,018.6% during the 3rd quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 255,355 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $99,874,000 after buying an additional 249,155 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 8,952,632 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,501,554,000 after buying an additional 205,012 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 34.4% during the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 782,133 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $305,908,000 after buying an additional 200,210 shares in the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on CAT. Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $471.00 to $455.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $455.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $299.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Caterpillar from an “underperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $365.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $285.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $380.60.

Caterpillar Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of CAT stock traded up $5.48 on Friday, hitting $386.03. 2,596,820 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,595,788. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.40. Caterpillar Inc. has a one year low of $277.66 and a one year high of $418.50. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $380.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $366.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $186.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.13.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last announced 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). The firm had revenue of $16.11 billion for 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $5.52 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.68 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be given a dividend of $1.41 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 21st. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.46%. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is currently 26.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In related news, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 968 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $380.98, for a total transaction of $368,788.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,686 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $642,332.28. This trade represents a 36.47 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $380.09, for a total transaction of $3,800,900.00. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 33,868 shares of company stock valued at $13,480,389 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

About Caterpillar

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.