Congress Asset Management Co. MA Lowers Position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Congress Asset Management Co. MA lessened its stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 2.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 56,101 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,594 shares during the quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $20,557,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CAT. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd increased its position in Caterpillar by 4.0% in the first quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd now owns 44,044 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $16,139,000 after purchasing an additional 1,691 shares during the last quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors increased its position in Caterpillar by 1.5% in the first quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors now owns 4,808 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,762,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp increased its position in Caterpillar by 0.6% in the first quarter. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 21,116 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $7,738,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. RFG Advisory LLC increased its position in Caterpillar by 5.1% in the first quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 6,783 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,485,000 after purchasing an additional 331 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CVA Family Office LLC increased its position in Caterpillar by 1.8% in the first quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 2,934 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,075,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on CAT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $385.00 to $435.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $338.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Stifel Nicolaus cut shares of Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $293.00 to $350.00 in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Caterpillar in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Truist Financial began coverage on shares of Caterpillar in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $390.00 price objective on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $327.13.

Caterpillar Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of Caterpillar stock opened at $327.84 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 0.83. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1 year low of $223.76 and a 1 year high of $382.01. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $343.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $326.60. The stock has a market cap of $160.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.80, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.14.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $5.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.12 by $0.48. Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.79% and a return on equity of 58.61%. The company had revenue of $15.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.07 billion. As a group, research analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 22nd will be issued a $1.41 dividend. This is a boost from Caterpillar’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.72%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 22nd. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.48%.

Caterpillar announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, June 12th that authorizes the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the industrial products company to repurchase up to 12.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Lange Bob De sold 21,847 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $356.90, for a total value of $7,797,194.30. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 71,115 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,380,943.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, insider Lange Bob De sold 21,847 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $356.90, for a total value of $7,797,194.30. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 71,115 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,380,943.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Cheryl H. Johnson sold 1,508 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $340.00, for a total transaction of $512,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 20,023 shares in the company, valued at $6,807,820. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.33% 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.