Greater Midwest Financial Group LLC Buys 515 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Greater Midwest Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 9.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,935 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 515 shares during the period. Caterpillar accounts for approximately 1.4% of Greater Midwest Financial Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Greater Midwest Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $2,153,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CAT. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 52.5% in the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 17,448 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,812,000 after buying an additional 6,008 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 39.1% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 255,605 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $84,976,000 after purchasing an additional 71,788 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 10.4% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,108,817 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $702,431,000 after purchasing an additional 198,123 shares during the period. Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $651,000. Finally, Daymark Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in Caterpillar by 0.7% in the second quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC now owns 128,254 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $42,721,000 after buying an additional 913 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Caterpillar news, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Cheryl H. Johnson sold 2,664 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $378.84, for a total transaction of $1,009,229.76. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,951 shares in the company, valued at $4,906,356.84. This trade represents a 17.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 33,868 shares of company stock worth $13,480,389 over the last 90 days. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

Shares of Caterpillar stock opened at $406.87 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $380.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $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 Inc. has a one year low of $288.34 and a one year high of $418.50. The company has a market capitalization of $196.44 billion, a PE ratio of 18.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.13.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.33 by ($0.16). Caterpillar had a return on equity of 59.09% and a net margin of 16.26%. The firm had revenue of $16.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.37 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.52 earnings per share. Caterpillar’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be issued a $1.41 dividend. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 21st. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.15%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on CAT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Caterpillar from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $349.00 to $332.00 in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Truist Financial reduced their price target on Caterpillar from $471.00 to $455.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Caterpillar from $299.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded 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. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven 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 a consensus target price of $380.60.

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.