Capital Investment Counsel Inc Buys 350 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Capital Investment Counsel Inc boosted its stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 3.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 11,135 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 350 shares during the quarter. Capital Investment Counsel Inc’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $3,292,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Caterpillar by 1.6% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,962,809 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,900,847,000 after purchasing an additional 111,384 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in Caterpillar by 0.7% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,830,849 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,864,823,000 after purchasing an additional 47,258 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its position in Caterpillar by 14.9% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,038,207 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,648,431,000 after purchasing an additional 781,111 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Caterpillar by 28,603.5% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,494,018 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,417,360,000 after purchasing an additional 1,488,813 shares during the period. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Caterpillar by 5.4% during the third quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,399,888 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $382,168,000 after purchasing an additional 71,344 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on CAT. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $338.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $357.00 to $408.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Caterpillar from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Truist Financial initiated coverage on shares of Caterpillar in a report on Thursday, March 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $390.00 price target on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $385.00 to $435.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $316.88.

Caterpillar Stock Up 1.2 %

Caterpillar stock traded up $4.20 on Monday, hitting $347.58. 246,189 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,467,788. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $350.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $301.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. The firm has a market cap of $173.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.17. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1 year low of $205.60 and a 1 year high of $382.01.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $5.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.12 by $0.48. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 58.61% and a net margin of 16.79%. The firm had revenue of $15.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.07 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 22nd will be given a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 19th. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.48%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Caterpillar news, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.10, for a total value of $3,101,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 57,317 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,774,001.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Caterpillar news, insider Lange Bob De sold 21,194 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 61,092 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,886,667.84. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.10, for a total value of $3,101,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 57,317 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,774,001.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 35,769 shares of company stock valued at $11,508,906. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.