Stephens Inc. AR Decreases Stock Position in Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Stephens Inc. AR lessened its holdings in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 68,648 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,823 shares during the period. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $26,650,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of CAT. Pacific Point Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Caterpillar during the 4th quarter valued at about $579,000. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in Caterpillar by 51.5% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,409 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,688,000 after acquiring an additional 2,519 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Caterpillar by 32.0% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 11,311 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,730,000 after acquiring an additional 2,745 shares in the last quarter. Advisor Resource Council purchased a new stake in Caterpillar during the 1st quarter valued at about $755,000. Finally, PFG Investments LLC grew its stake in Caterpillar by 4.1% during the 1st quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 6,122 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,019,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Chairman Donald J. Umpleby III sold 17,166 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $505.29, for a total transaction of $8,673,808.14. Following the sale, the chairman directly owned 448,173 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $226,457,335.17. This represents a 3.69% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,161 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.70, for a total transaction of $902,649.70. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 8,632 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,605,586.40. The trade was a 20.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 55,985 shares of company stock valued at $25,559,300 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

Shares of CAT stock opened at $527.41 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $453.38 and its 200-day moving average price is $391.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 1.34. Caterpillar Inc. has a one year low of $267.30 and a one year high of $544.99. The firm has a market cap of $247.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.83, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.46.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The industrial products company reported $4.72 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.88 by ($0.16). Caterpillar had a return on equity of 48.95% and a net margin of 14.95%.The company had revenue of $16.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $5.99 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 20th. Investors of record on Monday, October 20th will be paid a dividend of $1.51 per share. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 20th. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.72%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CAT has been the subject of several research reports. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $450.00 to $506.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $447.00 to $502.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $507.00 to $582.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $540.00 to $570.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Melius Research upgraded shares of Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $500.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $510.60.

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.