Caterpillar Inc. $CAT Stock Position Trimmed by Levin Capital Strategies L.P.

Levin Capital Strategies L.P. decreased its stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 4.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 76,059 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 3,251 shares during the quarter. Caterpillar makes up 2.9% of Levin Capital Strategies L.P.’s holdings, making the stock its 8th largest position. Levin Capital Strategies L.P.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $29,527,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CAT. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 36,842.1% in the second quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,299,751 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,833,836,000 after buying an additional 7,279,991 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 2,723.1% in the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,414,280 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $466,430,000 after buying an additional 1,364,183 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the first quarter worth about $391,788,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 546.6% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 843,093 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $327,297,000 after buying an additional 712,711 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 9.1% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,229,080 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,064,951,000 after buying an additional 268,300 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on CAT shares. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Caterpillar from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Erste Group Bank upgraded Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. UBS Group increased their price target on Caterpillar from $450.00 to $506.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Caterpillar in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $729.00 price target (up previously from $582.00) on shares of Caterpillar in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $579.81.

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In related news, Director Susan C. Schwab sold 2,324 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $410.00, for a total value of $952,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 6,917 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,835,970. This represents a 25.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Chairman Donald J. Umpleby III sold 17,166 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $505.29, for a total value of $8,673,808.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman owned 448,173 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $226,457,335.17. The trade was a 3.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 55,985 shares of company stock valued at $25,559,300. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Caterpillar Price Performance

Shares of Caterpillar stock opened at $570.03 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $481.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $411.96. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12 month low of $267.30 and a 12 month high of $596.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $267.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.26, a PEG ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 0.81.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $4.95 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.52 by $0.43. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 47.16% and a net margin of 14.34%.The firm had revenue of $17.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.72 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $5.17 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 20th. Investors of record on Monday, October 20th will be issued a $1.51 dividend. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 20th. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.01%.

Caterpillar Company 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.