Contravisory Investment Management Inc. Raises Stock Position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Contravisory Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT - Free Report) by 1,619.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 22,030 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 20,749 shares during the period. Contravisory Investment Management Inc.'s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $7,992,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the third quarter worth about $36,000. Fairscale Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the second quarter worth approximately $36,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC raised its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 42.9% during the third quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC now owns 100 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. boosted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 47.2% in the third quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 156 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, HWG Holdings LP bought a new position in Caterpillar in the second quarter worth approximately $54,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI upgraded Caterpillar from an "underperform" rating to an "in-line" rating and set a $365.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Caterpillar from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $349.00 to $332.00 in a research note on Monday, October 14th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Caterpillar from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $285.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $471.00 to $455.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $380.60.

Caterpillar Stock Up 1.6 %

NYSE CAT traded up $5.96 during trading on Thursday, hitting $380.85. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,965,280 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,936,632. Caterpillar Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $276.94 and a fifty-two week high of $418.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The company has a market cap of $183.87 billion, a PE ratio of 17.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.13. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $380.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $366.26.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $5.33 by ($0.16). Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.26% and a return on equity of 59.09%. The company had revenue of $16.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.37 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.52 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be given a dividend of $1.41 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 21st. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.48%. Caterpillar's dividend payout ratio is currently 26.15%.

Insider Activity

In other Caterpillar news, insider Lange Bob De sold 12,657 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $29,171,646.75. The trade was a 15.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 968 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $380.98, for a total transaction of $368,788.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,686 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $642,332.28. This trade represents a 36.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 23,868 shares of company stock valued at $9,679,489. 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.