Hardy Reed LLC Has $1.60 Million Holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Hardy Reed LLC raised its stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 2.8% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 4,093 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 112 shares during the period. Hardy Reed LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $1,601,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CAT. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Caterpillar by 5.6% during the third quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC now owns 116,566 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $45,591,000 after purchasing an additional 6,212 shares during the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI boosted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 43.0% in the 3rd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 13,902 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,437,000 after buying an additional 4,181 shares during the last quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the third quarter valued at approximately $204,000. Inspire Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Caterpillar by 25.8% during the third quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 8,266 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,233,000 after acquiring an additional 1,694 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jackson Square Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Caterpillar by 33.7% during the third quarter. Jackson Square Capital LLC now owns 16,581 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $6,485,000 after acquiring an additional 4,182 shares during the period. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Caterpillar Stock Up 0.5 %

CAT stock opened at $407.82 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $389.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $356.75. Caterpillar Inc. has a twelve month low of $246.01 and a twelve month high of $418.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $196.90 billion, a PE ratio of 18.91, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.10. 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 issued 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 firm had revenue of $16.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.37 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.52 EPS. Caterpillar’s revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Investors of record on Monday, October 21st were given a $1.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 21st. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.38%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.15%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on CAT shares. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Caterpillar from $399.00 to $456.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. StockNews.com cut shares of Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Robert W. Baird raised 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, Evercore ISI lowered Caterpillar from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $321.00 to $365.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $365.33.

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In other news, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 3,185 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $351.36, for a total transaction of $1,119,081.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 33,442 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,750,181.12. The trade was a 8.70 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Lange Bob De sold 12,657 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $410.25, for a total value of $5,192,534.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 71,107 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,171,646.75. This represents a 15.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 20,774 shares of company stock valued at $8,233,034. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

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.