MONECO Advisors LLC Lowers Position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

MONECO Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 12.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,792 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 394 shares during the quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $826,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Gilfoyle & Co LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new position in Caterpillar during the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in Caterpillar during the third quarter valued at $41,000. Rational Advisors LLC bought a new position in Caterpillar during the third quarter valued at $42,000. Finally, Milestone Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Caterpillar during the third quarter valued at $44,000. 70.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CAT has been the subject of several research reports. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Caterpillar from $210.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. HSBC raised their price target on Caterpillar from $330.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. StockNews.com lowered Caterpillar from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Truist Financial initiated coverage on Caterpillar in a report on Thursday, March 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $390.00 price target for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Caterpillar in a research note on Monday, January 8th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $270.00 price objective for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $323.35.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

Caterpillar stock opened at $334.57 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $351.08 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $302.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 1.35. The stock has a market cap of $167.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.10, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.17. Caterpillar Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $205.60 and a fifty-two week high of $382.01.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $5.60 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.07 billion. As a group, analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 22nd will be paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 19th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.55%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.48%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In other Caterpillar news, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.10, for a total transaction of $3,101,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 57,317 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,774,001.70. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, insider Lange Bob De sold 21,194 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $325.52, for a total value of $6,899,070.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 61,092 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,886,667.84. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.10, for a total transaction of $3,101,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 57,317 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,774,001.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 35,769 shares of company stock worth $11,508,906. 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.