Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Sells 7,227 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC cut its stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 2.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 253,537 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 7,227 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $91,973,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Magnus Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Caterpillar by 15.7% in the fourth quarter. Magnus Financial Group LLC now owns 3,652 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,325,000 after purchasing an additional 496 shares during the period. Albion Financial Group UT grew its holdings in Caterpillar by 334.8% in the 4th quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC grew its position in shares of Caterpillar by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 4,990 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,810,000 after buying an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. Dakota Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 38,581 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $13,996,000 after acquiring an additional 228 shares during the period. Finally, Eads & Heald Wealth Management boosted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Eads & Heald Wealth Management now owns 6,442 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,337,000 after buying an additional 309 shares in the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on CAT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Evercore ISI raised Caterpillar from an “underperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $365.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $471.00 to $455.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered Caterpillar from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $349.00 to $332.00 in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $380.60.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

NYSE CAT opened at $397.68 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $379.99 and its 200 day moving average price is $368.17. Caterpillar Inc. has a twelve month low of $287.52 and a twelve month high of $418.50. The company has a market capitalization of $192.00 billion, a PE ratio of 18.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.33 by ($0.16). Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.26% and a return on equity of 59.09%. The company had revenue of $16.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.37 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $5.52 EPS. Caterpillar’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be given a dividend of $1.41 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 21st. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.42%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In other news, Director Daniel M. Dickinson sold 1,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $418.00, for a total transaction of $543,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 4,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,079,968. This trade represents a 20.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Lange Bob De sold 12,657 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $410.25, for a total transaction of $5,192,534.25. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 71,107 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,171,646.75. The trade was a 15.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 33,868 shares of company stock valued at $13,480,389. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.