Johnson Financial Group Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Johnson Financial Group Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 8.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 13,714 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,285 shares during the period. Johnson Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $5,113,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Caterpillar in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,184,364,000. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 69.3% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,924,054 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,060,730,000 after acquiring an additional 1,196,861 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Caterpillar in the fourth quarter valued at $353,231,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in Caterpillar by 50,072.7% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 804,770 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $291,938,000 after purchasing an additional 803,166 shares in the last quarter. Finally, APG Asset Management N.V. increased its holdings in Caterpillar by 1,278.6% during the 4th quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 440,641 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $154,367,000 after purchasing an additional 408,678 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CAT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wedbush raised Caterpillar to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $490.00 to $380.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Caterpillar from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $355.00 to $385.00 in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Caterpillar from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $300.00 to $283.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their target price on Caterpillar from $438.00 to $389.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $359.36.

Caterpillar Stock Down 0.2 %

Caterpillar stock opened at $306.33 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $321.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $360.65. The company has a market capitalization of $146.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.88, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.42. Caterpillar Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $267.30 and a fifty-two week high of $418.50.

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

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 21st will be given a dividend of $1.41 per share. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.84%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 21st. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is currently 25.56%.

Insider Activity

In other Caterpillar news, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,425 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $354.70, for a total value of $860,147.50. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,275 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,225,742.50. This trade represents a 27.87 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gerald Johnson purchased 100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were bought at an average price of $365.57 per share, with a total value of $36,557.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 3,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,116,085.21. The trade was a 3.39 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

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.