Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) Stake Lowered by Jennison Associates LLC

Jennison Associates LLC decreased its stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 245,783 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 12,017 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC owned 0.05% of Caterpillar worth $96,131,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CAT. Commerce Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 8.8% during the third quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 142,698 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $55,812,000 after acquiring an additional 11,498 shares during the period. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Caterpillar during the 3rd quarter valued at about $7,288,000. West Family Investments Inc. grew its position in Caterpillar by 10.5% in the 3rd quarter. West Family Investments Inc. now owns 1,701 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $665,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 1.8% in the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 413,719 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $161,814,000 after purchasing an additional 7,118 shares during the period. Finally, B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the third quarter valued at approximately $54,997,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Trading Down 0.2 %

NYSE:CAT opened at $381.44 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $383.83 and a 200 day simple moving average of $355.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $184.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.10. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1-year low of $241.81 and a 1-year high of $418.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.17 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.33 by ($0.16). Caterpillar had a return on equity of 59.09% and a net margin of 16.26%. The firm had revenue of $16.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.37 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $5.52 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 21st were issued a $1.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 21st. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.48%. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is currently 26.15%.

Insider Transactions at Caterpillar

In related news, Director Gerald Johnson purchased 100 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $338.59 per share, for a total transaction of $33,859.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 2,842 shares in the company, valued at approximately $962,272.78. The trade was a 3.65 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 3,185 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $351.36, for a total value of $1,119,081.60. Following the sale, the insider now owns 33,442 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,750,181.12. This represents a 8.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 20,774 shares of company stock valued at $8,233,034 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on CAT. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Caterpillar from $299.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley cut shares of Caterpillar from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $349.00 to $332.00 in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $399.00 to $456.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered shares of Caterpillar from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $321.00 to $365.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $365.33.

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.