Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. Lowers Stock Holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. reduced its stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 0.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 17,139 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 148 shares during the quarter. Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $6,217,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of CAT. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Caterpillar in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Caterpillar during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new stake in Caterpillar in the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. 70.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CAT has been the topic of several recent research reports. DA Davidson increased their target price on Caterpillar from $325.00 to $331.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $320.00 to $370.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $396.00 price target (up from $389.00) on shares of Caterpillar in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Raymond James upgraded Caterpillar from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of Caterpillar from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $272.00 to $357.00 in a report on Friday, May 16th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Caterpillar presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $375.33.

Caterpillar Price Performance

CAT stock opened at $349.01 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $318.02 and a two-hundred day moving average of $353.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. The stock has a market cap of $164.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.35. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52-week low of $267.30 and a 52-week high of $418.50.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $4.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.35 by ($0.10). Caterpillar had a return on equity of 58.18% and a net margin of 16.65%. The firm had revenue of $14.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $5.60 EPS. Caterpillar’s revenue was down 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate 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 Tuesday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 21st were given a dividend of $1.41 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 21st. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.62%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.49%.

Insider Transactions at Caterpillar

In related news, Director David Maclennan purchased 375 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $320.70 per share, with a total value of $120,262.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,653 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,133,617.10. The trade was a 5.97% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.