Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. Raises Stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. boosted its position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 2.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,206 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 82 shares during the quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $1,259,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Lodestar Private Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Caterpillar by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Lodestar Private Asset Management LLC now owns 830 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $245,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,616 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $774,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,507 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,037,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the period. ACT Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. ACT Wealth Management LLC now owns 877 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $259,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the period. Finally, Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC boosted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 1,893 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $560,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on CAT. Truist Financial initiated coverage on Caterpillar in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $390.00 price objective for the company. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on Caterpillar from $216.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 21st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Caterpillar from $290.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. StockNews.com downgraded Caterpillar from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their target price on Caterpillar from $300.00 to $338.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $307.56.

Caterpillar Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:CAT traded up $2.27 on Thursday, hitting $360.59. 331,758 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,404,883. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52 week low of $204.04 and a 52 week high of $382.01. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $345.24 and a 200-day simple moving average of $296.78. The company has a market cap of $180.08 billion, a PE ratio of 17.79, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.17.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The industrial products company reported $5.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.76 by $0.47. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 56.99% and a net margin of 15.41%. The firm had revenue of $17.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.06 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.86 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Investors of record on Monday, April 22nd will be given a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 19th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.44%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.82%.

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In related news, insider Lange Bob De sold 21,194 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $325.52, for a total transaction of $6,899,070.88. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 61,092 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,886,667.84. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Caterpillar news, insider Lange Bob De sold 21,194 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $325.52, for a total value of $6,899,070.88. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 61,092 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,886,667.84. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.04, for a total value of $3,000,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 67,317 shares in the company, valued at $20,197,792.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 45,769 shares of company stock valued at $14,509,306 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.