Applied Finance Capital Management LLC Sells 255 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Applied Finance Capital Management LLC cut its stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 4.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,942 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 255 shares during the period. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $1,793,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in CAT. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Caterpillar during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,184,364,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the fourth quarter worth $353,231,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 50,072.7% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 804,770 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $291,938,000 after acquiring an additional 803,166 shares during the period. Amundi grew its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 17.3% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 2,166,087 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $782,109,000 after acquiring an additional 318,891 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Caterpillar by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 46,809,540 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $16,980,629,000 after acquiring an additional 284,366 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Price Performance

Caterpillar stock opened at $279.24 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $133.46 billion, a PE ratio of 12.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $344.52 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $370.76. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12 month low of $267.30 and a 12 month high of $418.50.

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

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In other news, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $17,173,226.38. This trade represents a 18.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,425 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $354.70, for a total value of $860,147.50. Following the sale, the insider now owns 6,275 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,225,742.50. The trade was a 27.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on CAT. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $420.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on Caterpillar from $455.00 to $438.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group raised Caterpillar from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $355.00 to $385.00 in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Bank of America dropped their price target on Caterpillar from $452.00 to $414.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $515.00 to $490.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.