Western Wealth Management LLC Sells 4,361 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Western Wealth Management LLC decreased its position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT - Free Report) by 62.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,653 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 4,361 shares during the period. Western Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Caterpillar were worth $962,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 46,809,540 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $16,980,629,000 after purchasing an additional 284,366 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,449,770 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $3,790,841,000 after purchasing an additional 236,315 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 9,081,775 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $3,294,505,000 after acquiring an additional 129,143 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Caterpillar by 11.8% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,847,330 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $2,483,937,000 after acquiring an additional 724,477 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,184,364,000. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on CAT. Truist Financial reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $396.00 price objective (up from $389.00) on shares of Caterpillar in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Wedbush raised shares of Caterpillar to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $325.00 to $331.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Raymond James upgraded shares of Caterpillar from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, UBS Group raised Caterpillar from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $272.00 to $357.00 in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $375.33.

Caterpillar Price Performance

CAT stock traded down $0.78 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $350.74. The company had a trading volume of 621,603 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,628,622. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1-year low of $267.30 and a 1-year high of $418.50. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $318.65 and a 200-day moving average price of $351.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The company has a market capitalization of $165.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.35.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $4.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.35 by ($0.10). The business had revenue of $14.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.64 billion. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 58.18% and a net margin of 16.65%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.60 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Investors of record on Monday, April 21st were issued a dividend of $1.41 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 21st. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.61%. Caterpillar's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.49%.

Insider Transactions at Caterpillar

In other Caterpillar news, Director David Maclennan purchased 375 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $320.70 per share, for a total transaction of $120,262.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,653 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,133,617.10. This represents a 5.97% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.