Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) Shares Bought by Northern Trust Corp

Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT - Free Report) by 11.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,847,330 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 724,477 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp owned approximately 1.42% of Caterpillar worth $2,483,937,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Caterpillar in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Caterpillar in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on CAT. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $365.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Caterpillar from $490.00 to $380.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Wedbush raised Caterpillar to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com downgraded Caterpillar from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Caterpillar from $438.00 to $389.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $361.75.

Caterpillar Stock Up 0.6 %

NYSE CAT traded up $1.99 on Wednesday, hitting $309.39. The stock had a trading volume of 5,121,849 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,625,548. The business's fifty day moving average price is $319.66 and its 200 day moving average price is $359.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 0.89. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52-week low of $267.30 and a 52-week high of $418.50. The stock has a market cap of $147.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.21.

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

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 21st will be paid a dividend of $1.41 per share. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.82%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 21st. Caterpillar's payout ratio is 25.56%.

Insider Activity

In other Caterpillar news, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,425 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $354.70, for a total transaction of $860,147.50. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 6,275 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,225,742.50. This trade represents a 27.87 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Gerald Johnson acquired 100 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $365.57 per share, with a total value of $36,557.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 3,053 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,116,085.21. This trade represents a 3.39 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.29% of the company's stock.

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.