California Public Employees Retirement System Buys 202,154 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 20.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,208,816 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 202,154 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned 0.24% of Caterpillar worth $357,411,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Lodestar Private Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Lodestar Private Asset Management LLC now owns 830 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $245,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Caterpillar by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,616 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $774,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the period. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Caterpillar by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,507 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,037,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the period. ACT Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Caterpillar by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. ACT Wealth Management LLC now owns 877 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $259,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the period. Finally, Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC raised its holdings in Caterpillar by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 1,893 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $560,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the period. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.10, for a total transaction of $3,101,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 57,317 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,774,001.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Lange Bob De sold 21,194 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $325.52, for a total value of $6,899,070.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 61,092 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,886,667.84. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.10, for a total transaction of $3,101,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 57,317 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,774,001.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 45,769 shares of company stock valued at $14,509,306. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on CAT. Truist Financial began coverage on shares of Caterpillar in a report on Thursday, March 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $390.00 target price on the stock. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $210.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target 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 target on shares of Caterpillar from $300.00 to $338.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Caterpillar in a research report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $307.56.

Caterpillar Trading Up 0.8 %

NYSE CAT traded up $2.96 during trading on Monday, hitting $357.62. 2,082,003 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,436,491. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $346.70 and a two-hundred day moving average of $298.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 0.87. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12-month low of $204.04 and a 12-month high of $382.01. The firm has a market cap of $178.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.61, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.17.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 5th. The industrial products company reported $5.23 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 15.41% and a return on equity of 56.99%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.86 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.41 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 22nd will be paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 19th. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.82%.

Caterpillar Company 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.