Johnson Financial Group Inc. Lowers Position in Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Johnson Financial Group Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 6.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 13,032 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 954 shares during the quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $9,233,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Caterpillar by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 46,385,185 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $26,572,681,000 after acquiring an additional 442,164 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Caterpillar by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 35,388,550 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $20,273,039,000 after acquiring an additional 385,204 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,610,182 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $6,072,572,000 after purchasing an additional 94,524 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 9,493,266 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,438,408,000 after purchasing an additional 54,069 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in Caterpillar by 16.0% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 6,738,802 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,860,457,000 after purchasing an additional 928,974 shares during the period. 70.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In other news, insider Denise C. Johnson sold 12,605 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $907.91, for a total value of $11,444,205.55. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 49,825 shares in the company, valued at $45,236,615.75. This represents a 20.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 15,674 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $918.71, for a total value of $14,399,860.54. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 52,935 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,631,913.85. The trade was a 22.85% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 95,773 shares of company stock worth $87,642,635. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on CAT shares. Bank of America raised their price objective on Caterpillar from $930.00 to $989.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $1,165.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $1,043.00 to $1,218.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Argus upped their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $820.00 to $990.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn increased their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $700.00 to $950.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $980.57.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

NYSE CAT opened at $864.72 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $930.07 and its 200-day simple moving average is $796.99. The company has a market cap of $398.28 billion, a PE ratio of 43.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.57. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1-year low of $405.46 and a 1-year high of $1,073.46.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.54 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.65 by $0.89. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 48.21% and a net margin of 13.33%.The firm had revenue of $17.41 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.53 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $4.25 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 22.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 24.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 20th will be paid a $1.63 dividend. This is a positive change from Caterpillar’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.51. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 20th. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is 30.06%.

About Caterpillar

Caterpillar Inc is a global manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines and locomotives. The company’s product portfolio includes earthmoving machines such as excavators, bulldozers, wheel loaders and off‑highway trucks, as well as a range of power generation products including generator sets and power systems for industrial and commercial use. Caterpillar serves customers across heavy construction, mining, energy, transportation and related industries with both equipment and integrated technology solutions.

In addition to manufacturing, Caterpillar provides a broad range of aftermarket parts and support services, including maintenance, repair, remanufacturing and fleet management tools.