Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) Shares Sold by Fmr LLC

FMR LLC cut its holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT - Free Report) by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,853,946 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 482,795 shares during the period. FMR LLC owned about 1.01% of Caterpillar worth $1,898,475,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in Caterpillar during the third quarter worth approximately $36,000. Fairscale Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Caterpillar in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, POM Investment Strategies LLC lifted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 2,160.0% during the 2nd quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 113 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the period. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CAT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays lifted their price objective on Caterpillar from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Evercore ISI downgraded shares of Caterpillar from an "in-line" rating to an "underperform" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $321.00 to $365.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Caterpillar from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Morgan Stanley cut shares of Caterpillar from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $349.00 to $332.00 in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their target price on Caterpillar from $399.00 to $456.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $365.33.

Caterpillar Stock Down 1.0 %

NYSE CAT traded down $4.18 on Wednesday, reaching $403.65. The company had a trading volume of 1,371,058 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,594,966. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $390.02 and a 200-day moving average of $357.08. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1 year low of $246.01 and a 1 year 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 firm has a market capitalization of $194.88 billion, a PE ratio of 18.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.10.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT - Get Free Report) last announced its 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). The business had revenue of $16.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $16.37 billion. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 59.09% and a net margin of 16.26%. The firm's revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.52 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 21st were given a dividend of $1.41 per share. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 21st. Caterpillar's payout ratio is currently 26.15%.

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In related news, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 3,185 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $351.36, for a total transaction of $1,119,081.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 33,442 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,750,181.12. This represents a 8.70 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 968 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $380.98, for a total value of $368,788.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,686 shares of the company's stock, valued at $642,332.28. This trade represents a 36.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 20,774 shares of company stock valued at $8,233,034 over the last ninety days. Corporate 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.