Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) Shares Sold by CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp

CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp decreased its position in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 0.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 20,016 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 171 shares during the period. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $7,261,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the 2nd quarter worth about $2,733,000. One Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Caterpillar by 173.0% during the second quarter. One Capital Management LLC now owns 1,665 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $555,000 after purchasing an additional 1,055 shares in the last quarter. Financial & Tax Architects LLC grew its holdings in Caterpillar by 1.3% in the second quarter. Financial & Tax Architects LLC now owns 18,074 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $6,020,000 after purchasing an additional 229 shares during the period. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Caterpillar by 301.4% in the second quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. now owns 3,091 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,030,000 after buying an additional 2,321 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV raised its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 33.7% during the 2nd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 133,013 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $43,194,000 after buying an additional 33,505 shares during the period. 70.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $454.00 to $471.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Citigroup decreased their target price on Caterpillar from $460.00 to $420.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Evercore ISI raised shares of Caterpillar from an “underperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $365.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $381.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Gerald Johnson bought 100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $398.57 per share, with a total value of $39,857.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 2,953 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,176,977.21. The trade was a 3.51 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Daniel M. Dickinson sold 1,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $418.00, for a total value of $543,400.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 4,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,079,968. This trade represents a 20.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 23,868 shares of company stock worth $9,679,489 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

NYSE CAT opened at $374.81 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $380.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $366.26. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33. The stock has a market cap of $180.96 billion, a PE ratio of 17.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.13. Caterpillar Inc. has a twelve month low of $276.94 and a twelve month high of $418.50.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last announced its 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 company had revenue of $16.11 billion for 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%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $5.52 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be given a $1.41 dividend. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.50%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 21st. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is 26.15%.

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.