Penn Davis Mcfarland Inc. Takes Position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Penn Davis Mcfarland Inc. purchased a new stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 1,600 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $580,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the 2nd quarter worth $36,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC increased its position in shares of Caterpillar by 42.9% in the third quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC now owns 100 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Finally, Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC lifted its position in Caterpillar by 130.0% during the fourth quarter. Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC now owns 115 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Cheryl H. Johnson sold 2,664 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $378.84, for a total transaction of $1,009,229.76. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,951 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,906,356.84. The trade was a 17.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 968 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were 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 directly owns 1,686 shares in the company, valued at approximately $642,332.28. The trade was a 36.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 33,868 shares of company stock worth $13,480,389. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company's stock.

Caterpillar Trading Up 1.4 %

CAT stock traded up $5.48 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $386.03. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,596,820 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,595,788. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12 month low of $277.66 and a 12 month high of $418.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33. The business's 50 day moving average price is $380.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $367.29. The company has a market cap of $186.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.13.

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

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be given a $1.41 dividend. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 21st. Caterpillar's payout ratio is 26.15%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on CAT shares. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $299.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Truist Financial cut their target price on Caterpillar from $471.00 to $455.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Morgan Stanley lowered Caterpillar from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and decreased their price target for the company from $349.00 to $332.00 in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Caterpillar from $455.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $380.60.

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.