Alesco Advisors LLC Increases Stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Alesco Advisors LLC lifted its position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 9.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,099 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 99 shares during the period. Alesco Advisors LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $325,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CAT. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 28,603.5% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,494,018 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,417,360,000 after acquiring an additional 1,488,813 shares during the last quarter. Winslow Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 2,265.3% in the 3rd quarter. Winslow Capital Management LLC now owns 1,117,830 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $305,168,000 after acquiring an additional 1,070,570 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 14.9% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,038,207 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,648,431,000 after acquiring an additional 781,111 shares during the last quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich lifted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 5,293.1% in the 4th quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 482,360 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $142,620,000 after acquiring an additional 473,416 shares during the last quarter. Finally, J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the 3rd quarter worth about $101,872,000. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $338.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Caterpillar from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Truist Financial assumed coverage on shares of Caterpillar in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $390.00 price target on the stock. Evercore ISI downgraded shares of Caterpillar from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $321.00 to $338.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $357.00 to $408.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Caterpillar has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $310.83.

Caterpillar Stock Up 1.6 %

NYSE CAT traded up $5.37 during trading on Friday, reaching $343.37. 3,324,221 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,496,459. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 0.87. The firm has a market cap of $171.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.17. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $350.10 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $300.80. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12-month low of $204.04 and a 12-month high of $382.01.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $5.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.12 by $0.48. Caterpillar had a net margin of 15.41% and a return on equity of 56.99%. The firm had revenue of $15.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.07 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 22nd will be given a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.51%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 19th. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is currently 25.82%.

Insider Transactions at Caterpillar

In other news, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.10, for a total value of $3,101,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 57,317 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,774,001.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider Lange Bob De sold 21,194 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $325.52, for a total value of $6,899,070.88. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 61,092 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,886,667.84. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.10, for a total transaction of $3,101,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 57,317 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,774,001.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 35,769 shares of company stock valued at $11,508,906 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar 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.