Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC Trims Stock Position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC lowered its position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 3.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,047 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 37 shares during the quarter. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $380,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of CAT. Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in Caterpillar during the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Kimelman & Baird LLC boosted its stake 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 valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In other news, Director Gerald Johnson bought 100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $365.57 per share, for a total transaction of $36,557.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 3,053 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,116,085.21. This trade represents a 3.39 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,425 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $354.70, for a total transaction of $860,147.50. Following the sale, the insider now owns 6,275 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,225,742.50. This represents a 27.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Caterpillar Stock Up 1.1 %

Caterpillar stock opened at $343.90 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $365.99 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $372.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.42. The company has a market cap of $164.36 billion, a PE ratio of 15.58, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.12. Caterpillar Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $307.05 and a fifty-two week high of $418.50.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.97 by $0.17. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 58.18% and a net margin of 16.65%. Equities analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 21st were given a dividend of $1.41 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, January 21st. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.64%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.56%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on CAT. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $350.00 to $357.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. UBS Group raised Caterpillar from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $355.00 to $385.00 in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Caterpillar from $455.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $330.00 to $300.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Wedbush upgraded shares of Caterpillar to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $383.80.

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.