Korea Investment CORP Decreases Stock Holdings in Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Korea Investment CORP lowered its holdings in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 0.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 363,081 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 2,368 shares during the quarter. Korea Investment CORP’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $119,744,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Victrix Investment Advisors purchased a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,090,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Caterpillar by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,304,448 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,089,798,000 after purchasing an additional 15,347 shares during the last quarter. Pacific Point Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the 4th quarter valued at about $579,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 18.6% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 191,640 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $63,202,000 after acquiring an additional 30,070 shares during the period. Finally, Crestwood Advisors Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 22,689 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $7,483,000 after acquiring an additional 743 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on CAT. Melius upgraded Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $500.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Baird R W upgraded Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Caterpillar from $395.00 to $422.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, June 20th. UBS Group upgraded Caterpillar from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $272.00 to $357.00 in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price target on Caterpillar from $414.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $444.00.

Insider Transactions at Caterpillar

In related news, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,161 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.70, for a total value of $902,649.70. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 8,632 shares in the company, valued at $3,605,586.40. This trade represents a 20.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Caterpillar Stock Down 2.4%

NYSE CAT opened at $407.41 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $190.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.40. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $399.63 and a 200-day moving average price of $355.78. Caterpillar Inc. has a one year low of $267.30 and a one year high of $441.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 1.34.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The industrial products company reported $4.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.88 by ($0.16). The company had revenue of $16.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.14 billion. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 48.95% and a net margin of 14.95%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $5.99 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Investors of record on Monday, July 21st will be given a $1.51 dividend. This is a boost from Caterpillar’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.41. This represents a $6.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 21st. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is 30.72%.

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.