Wedbush Securities Inc. Acquires 2,793 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Wedbush Securities Inc. boosted its stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT - Free Report) by 16.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 19,321 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 2,793 shares during the quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc.'s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $7,009,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Caterpillar by 9.4% during the 4th quarter. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,152 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $418,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Aviva PLC lifted its stake in Caterpillar by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 292,453 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $106,090,000 after purchasing an additional 16,137 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Bank Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the 4th quarter worth $47,000. Oarsman Capital Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Oarsman Capital Inc. now owns 7,413 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,689,000 after buying an additional 291 shares during the period. Finally, Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Caterpillar during the 4th quarter valued at $55,353,000. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Caterpillar

In other news, Director Gerald Johnson acquired 100 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the purchase, the director now owns 3,053 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,116,085.21. This represents a 3.39 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $380.09, for a total transaction of $3,800,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 45,182 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,173,226.38. The trade was a 18.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CAT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $365.00 to $375.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $350.00 to $357.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. UBS Group upgraded Caterpillar from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $355.00 to $385.00 in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $438.00 to $389.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $430.00 to $320.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $373.20.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

Shares of CAT stock traded down $11.62 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $289.39. The stock had a trading volume of 1,959,279 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,613,221. Caterpillar Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $267.30 and a fifty-two week high of $418.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The firm has a market cap of $138.31 billion, a PE ratio of 13.04, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.21. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $336.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $368.44.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.97 by $0.17. Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.65% and a return on equity of 58.18%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Investors of record on Monday, April 21st will be paid a $1.41 dividend. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.95%. Caterpillar's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.56%.

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.