Smith Shellnut Wilson LLC ADV Cuts Stock Holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Smith Shellnut Wilson LLC ADV lowered its position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 5.5% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,570 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 91 shares during the period. Smith Shellnut Wilson LLC ADV’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $518,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Caterpillar in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new stake in Caterpillar during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Investment Management Corp VA ADV purchased a new position in Caterpillar in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on Caterpillar from $375.00 to $373.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Caterpillar from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $309.00 to $395.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $396.00 target price (up from $389.00) on shares of Caterpillar in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $320.00 to $370.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Caterpillar presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $372.92.

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In related news, Director David Maclennan purchased 375 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $320.70 per share, for a total transaction of $120,262.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,653 shares in the company, valued at $2,133,617.10. The trade was a 5.97% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of NYSE:CAT opened at $362.21 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $170.62 billion, a PE ratio of 16.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.42. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52-week low of $267.30 and a 52-week high of $418.50. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $328.90 and a 200 day moving average of $347.55.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $4.25 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.35 by ($0.10). The firm had revenue of $14.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.64 billion. Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.65% and a return on equity of 58.18%. Caterpillar’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $5.60 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 21st will be issued a $1.51 dividend. This represents a $6.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.67%. This is a positive change from Caterpillar’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.41. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 21st. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is presently 29.43%.

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.