Live Oak Investment Partners Invests $1.31 Million in Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Live Oak Investment Partners purchased a new stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 2,737 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,306,000.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 36,842.1% in the 2nd quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,299,751 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,833,836,000 after acquiring an additional 7,279,991 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Caterpillar during the second quarter worth approximately $2,165,899,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 712,711 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake in Caterpillar by 425.2% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 761,800 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $295,738,000 after purchasing an additional 616,739 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Voya Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Caterpillar by 36.9% during the 3rd quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 1,777,589 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $848,177,000 after purchasing an additional 478,972 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Stock Up 1.3%

CAT stock opened at $647.05 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $585.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $500.31. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52-week low of $267.30 and a 52-week high of $652.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $302.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.57.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 3rd. The industrial products company reported $4.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.52 by $0.43. The firm had revenue of $17.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.72 billion. Caterpillar had a net margin of 14.34% and a return on equity of 47.16%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $5.17 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 19th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 20th will be paid a $1.51 dividend. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 20th. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.01%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Lange Bob De sold 14,638 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $562.36, for a total transaction of $8,231,825.68. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 80,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $45,106,333.24. The trade was a 15.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $575.06, for a total transaction of $5,750,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 45,460 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,142,227.60. The trade was a 18.03% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 54,729 shares of company stock worth $31,084,308. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CAT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Bank of America upped their price objective on Caterpillar from $650.00 to $708.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $729.00 price objective (up previously from $582.00) on shares of Caterpillar in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Caterpillar in a report on Monday, December 29th. DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $408.00 to $569.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $612.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Caterpillar presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $623.10.

About Caterpillar

Caterpillar Inc is a global manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines and locomotives. The company’s product portfolio includes earthmoving machines such as excavators, bulldozers, wheel loaders and off?highway trucks, as well as a range of power generation products including generator sets and power systems for industrial and commercial use. Caterpillar serves customers across heavy construction, mining, energy, transportation and related industries with both equipment and integrated technology solutions.

In addition to manufacturing, Caterpillar provides a broad range of aftermarket parts and support services, including maintenance, repair, remanufacturing and fleet management tools.