Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC Increases Stock Position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC raised its stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 0.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 16,211 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the quarter. Caterpillar accounts for about 1.9% of Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position. Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $5,881,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in Caterpillar in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the 3rd quarter worth about $36,000. Albion Financial Group UT raised its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 334.8% during the 4th quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC lifted its position in 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 buying an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC grew its position in Caterpillar by 130.0% during the fourth quarter. Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC now owns 115 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on CAT. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $299.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Caterpillar from $455.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Citigroup reduced their price target on Caterpillar from $460.00 to $420.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Morgan Stanley lowered Caterpillar from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $349.00 to $332.00 in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $471.00 to $455.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Three investment 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 data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $380.60.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Cheryl H. Johnson sold 2,664 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $378.84, for a total value of $1,009,229.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 12,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,906,356.84. The trade was a 17.06 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Lange Bob De sold 12,657 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $410.25, for a total transaction of $5,192,534.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 71,107 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,171,646.75. The trade was a 15.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 33,868 shares of company stock valued at $13,480,389 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

Caterpillar stock opened at $406.87 on Friday. Caterpillar Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $288.34 and a fifty-two week high of $418.50. The stock has a market cap of $196.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.86, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.13. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $380.20 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $368.38. 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 (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). The firm had revenue of $16.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.37 billion. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 59.09% and a net margin of 16.26%. Caterpillar’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $5.52 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.39%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.