Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Sells 28,639 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Key Points

• Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management cut its Caterpillar stake by 12.8% in the fourth quarter, selling 28,639 shares and leaving it with 194,886 shares valued at about $111.6 million.
• Other institutions have also been active in CAT, with some adding to positions; overall, 70.98% of Caterpillar shares are held by institutional investors.
• Caterpillar recently reported strong quarterly results, beating estimates on both earnings and revenue, while analysts remain constructive with a Moderate Buy consensus and an average price target of $923.14.

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. trimmed its position in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT - Free Report) by 12.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 194,886 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 28,639 shares during the quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.'s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $111,645,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CAT. Pacific Point Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Caterpillar during the fourth quarter worth about $579,000. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 51.5% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,409 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,688,000 after purchasing an additional 2,519 shares in the last quarter. United Bank lifted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 108.5% during the second quarter. United Bank now owns 4,083 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,585,000 after purchasing an additional 2,125 shares in the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. lifted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 3.9% during the second quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 9,147 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $3,551,000 after purchasing an additional 347 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 6.5% during the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 572,165 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $222,120,000 after purchasing an additional 34,846 shares in the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CAT has been the topic of a number of research reports. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $930.00 to $989.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Truist Financial set a $1,043.00 target price on shares of Caterpillar in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Williams Trading set a $825.00 price objective on shares of Caterpillar in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Rothschild & Co Redburn increased their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $700.00 to $950.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, CICC Research assumed coverage on shares of Caterpillar in a report on Friday, February 6th. They issued an "outperform" rating on the stock. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $923.14.

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In other news, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 360 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $906.00, for a total transaction of $326,160.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 530 shares of the company's stock, valued at $480,180. This represents a 40.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 16,283 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $916.80, for a total transaction of $14,928,254.40. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 46,041 shares of the company's stock, valued at $42,210,388.80. This represents a 26.13% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 98,273 shares of company stock valued at $89,439,960 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Caterpillar Trading Down 1.7%

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

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

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

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

Caterpillar Company 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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