Caterpillar Inc. $CAT Shares Sold by Intech Investment Management LLC

Key Points

• Intech Investment Management reduced its Caterpillar stake by 19.3% in the fourth quarter, selling 6,308 shares and ending with 26,309 shares worth about $15.1 million.
• Caterpillar’s latest earnings beat expectations, with Q1 EPS of $5.54 versus $4.65 expected and revenue of $17.42 billion, up 22.2% year over year.
• Analysts remain constructive on CAT, with 16 Buy ratings, 9 Hold ratings, and a consensus target price of $923.14; the stock also recently traded near $872.61 and pays a quarterly dividend of $1.51 per share.

Intech Investment Management LLC lessened its stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT - Free Report) by 19.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 26,309 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 6,308 shares during the quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC's holdings in Caterpillar were worth $15,072,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pacific Point Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the 4th quarter valued at $579,000. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 51.5% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,409 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $2,688,000 after acquiring an additional 2,519 shares during the period. United Bank raised its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 108.5% in the 2nd quarter. United Bank now owns 4,083 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,585,000 after acquiring an additional 2,125 shares during the period. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. raised its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 3.9% in the 2nd quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 9,147 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $3,551,000 after acquiring an additional 347 shares during the period. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 6.5% in the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 572,165 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $222,120,000 after acquiring an additional 34,846 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on CAT shares. Oppenheimer set a $980.00 target price on shares of Caterpillar and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. HSBC raised their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $850.00 to $1,100.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Morgan Stanley set a $915.00 price target on shares of Caterpillar and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Truist Financial set a $1,043.00 price target on shares of Caterpillar in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Caterpillar from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $923.14.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

Caterpillar stock opened at $872.61 on Friday. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12-month low of $339.50 and a 12-month high of $931.35. The company has a market capitalization of $401.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $811.10 and its 200 day moving average price is $702.31.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.65 by $0.89. The firm had revenue of $17.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.53 billion. Caterpillar had a net margin of 13.33% and a return on equity of 48.21%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 22.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $4.25 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 24.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 20th were issued a dividend of $1.51 per share. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 20th. Caterpillar's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.06%.

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In other Caterpillar news, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 16,283 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $916.80, for a total transaction of $14,928,254.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 46,041 shares of the company's stock, valued at $42,210,388.80. This trade represents a 26.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Lange Bob De sold 24,222 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $922.92, for a total transaction of $22,354,968.24. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 86,029 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $79,397,884.68. This represents a 21.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 98,273 shares of company stock worth $89,439,960 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Caterpillar Profile

Caterpillar Inc is a global manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines and locomotives. The company's product portfolio includes earthmoving machines such as excavators, bulldozers, wheel loaders and off‑highway trucks, as well as a range of power generation products including generator sets and power systems for industrial and commercial use. Caterpillar serves customers across heavy construction, mining, energy, transportation and related industries with both equipment and integrated technology solutions.

In addition to manufacturing, Caterpillar provides a broad range of aftermarket parts and support services, including maintenance, repair, remanufacturing and fleet management tools.

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