Main Street Research LLC Purchases 2,436 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Main Street Research LLC boosted its position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 2.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 96,486 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 2,436 shares during the quarter. Caterpillar accounts for about 2.2% of Main Street Research LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 20th largest holding. Main Street Research LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $35,001,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CAT. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new stake in Caterpillar in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Caterpillar in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Albion Financial Group UT increased its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 334.8% during the 4th quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on CAT. Truist Financial lowered their target price on Caterpillar from $455.00 to $438.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Wedbush raised shares of Caterpillar to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group raised shares of Caterpillar from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $355.00 to $385.00 in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $365.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $515.00 to $490.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $383.80.

Insider Transactions at Caterpillar

In other Caterpillar news, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 45,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,173,226.38. The trade was a 18.12 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,425 shares of the business’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 trade represents a 27.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Caterpillar Price Performance

CAT opened at $350.97 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $363.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $372.98. The firm has a market cap of $167.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.90, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.15. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1 year low of $307.05 and a 1 year high of $418.50.

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

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st were paid a dividend of $1.41 per share. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.61%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, January 21st. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.56%.

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.