Accredited Investors Inc. Has $829,000 Stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Accredited Investors Inc. cut its position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 1.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 2,286 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 40 shares during the quarter. Accredited Investors Inc.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $829,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new stake in Caterpillar in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $380.09, for a total value of $3,800,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 45,182 shares in the company, valued at $17,173,226.38. The trade was a 18.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Gerald Johnson acquired 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, for a total transaction of $36,557.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 3,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,116,085.21. This represents 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.

Caterpillar Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE CAT opened at $296.40 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $141.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.43, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.21. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12 month low of $267.30 and a 12 month high of $418.50. 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $336.81 and a 200-day moving average of $368.44.

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 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%. Sell-side analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Investors of record on Monday, April 21st will be given a $1.41 dividend. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.90%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.56%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on CAT shares. Wedbush raised shares of Caterpillar to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group upgraded shares of 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 report on Monday, February 3rd. DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $350.00 to $357.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Caterpillar from $330.00 to $300.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on Caterpillar from $430.00 to $320.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Two 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Caterpillar presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $373.20.

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.