MRA Advisory Group Raises Stock Holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

MRA Advisory Group lifted its holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 2.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,534 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the quarter. MRA Advisory Group’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $556,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,837,000. Capital Wealth Planning LLC grew its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 6.4% during the second quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 1,381,453 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $460,162,000 after buying an additional 83,571 shares during the last quarter. Black Diamond Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the second quarter worth approximately $231,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 5.7% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,069,840 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,022,488,000 after acquiring an additional 165,358 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the second quarter valued at $2,733,000. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

Shares of CAT stock opened at $362.82 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $381.88 and a 200 day moving average of $365.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $175.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.10. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1 year low of $276.94 and a 1 year high of $418.50.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 16.26% and a return on equity of 59.09%. The business had revenue of $16.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.37 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $5.52 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be issued a dividend of $1.41 per share. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.55%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 21st. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.15%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $285.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $299.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $455.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Caterpillar from $454.00 to $471.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $384.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In other Caterpillar news, Director Gerald Johnson acquired 100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $398.57 per share, for a total transaction of $39,857.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,953 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,176,977.21. This represents a 3.51 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 968 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $380.98, for a total value of $368,788.64. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,686 shares in the company, valued at $642,332.28. This trade represents a 36.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 23,868 shares of company stock valued at $9,679,489. 0.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.