GHP Investment Advisors Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

GHP Investment Advisors Inc. lowered its holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 4.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,034 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 84 shares during the period. GHP Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $601,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Gilfoyle & Co LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Caterpillar by 272.4% in the first quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 108 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the period. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Caterpillar by 730.8% in the first quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 108 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the period. Finally, First Capital Advisors Group LLC. purchased a new stake in Caterpillar during the second quarter valued at about $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CAT has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Caterpillar from $290.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Caterpillar from $345.00 to $385.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Truist Financial initiated coverage on Caterpillar in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $390.00 price target for the company. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Caterpillar from $285.00 to $293.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 19th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Caterpillar from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $301.94.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Caterpillar news, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 4,575 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $329.80, for a total transaction of $1,508,835.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 23,474 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,741,725.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Caterpillar news, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 4,575 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $329.80, for a total transaction of $1,508,835.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 23,474 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,741,725.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Lange Bob De sold 21,194 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $325.52, for a total value of $6,899,070.88. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 61,092 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,886,667.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 45,769 shares of company stock valued at $14,509,306 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of CAT opened at $365.45 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $182.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.17. Caterpillar Inc. has a one year low of $204.04 and a one year high of $382.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 1.35. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $342.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $294.79.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The industrial products company reported $5.23 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.76 by $0.47. The firm had revenue of $17.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.06 billion. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 56.99% and a net margin of 15.41%. Caterpillar’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.86 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 22nd will be issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 19th. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.82%.

Caterpillar 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.