Alpha Cubed Investments LLC Raises Stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Alpha Cubed Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 7.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 125,141 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,575 shares during the quarter. Caterpillar comprises 2.1% of Alpha Cubed Investments LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest position. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $45,396,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 39,534.0% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,136,667 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $8,356,930,000 after acquiring an additional 2,131,276 shares in the last quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd grew its position in Caterpillar by 3,319.7% during the 2nd quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 275,011 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $91,606,000 after purchasing an additional 266,969 shares during the last quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI increased its stake in Caterpillar by 4,018.6% during the 3rd quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 255,355 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $99,874,000 after purchasing an additional 249,155 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Caterpillar by 2.3% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 8,952,632 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,501,554,000 after buying an additional 205,012 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 34.4% in the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 782,133 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $305,908,000 after buying an additional 200,210 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CAT has been the topic of several analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Caterpillar from $455.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on Caterpillar from $471.00 to $455.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $376.00 to $434.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $299.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut shares of Caterpillar from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $349.00 to $332.00 in a report on Monday, October 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $380.60.

Insider Activity

In other Caterpillar news, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 968 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $380.98, for a total transaction of $368,788.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,686 shares in the company, valued at $642,332.28. The trade was a 36.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Gerald Johnson purchased 100 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $398.57 per share, for a total transaction of $39,857.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 2,953 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,176,977.21. This trade represents a 3.51 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 33,868 shares of company stock valued at $13,480,389. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Caterpillar Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE:CAT opened at $386.03 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $186.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.90, a PEG ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.13. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12 month low of $277.66 and a 12 month high of $418.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $380.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $367.29.

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

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be given a dividend of $1.41 per share. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 21st. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.15%.

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.