Alesco Advisors LLC Acquires 99 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Alesco Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 9.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,099 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 99 shares during the quarter. Alesco Advisors LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $325,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CAT. Waterway Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Caterpillar during the 4th quarter worth approximately $352,000. Farmers Trust Co. raised its holdings in Caterpillar by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Farmers Trust Co. now owns 4,490 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,328,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Firethorn Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in Caterpillar by 19.4% during the 4th quarter. Firethorn Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,825 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $540,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares during the last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Caterpillar by 16.7% during the 3rd quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 367,655 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $100,370,000 after purchasing an additional 52,576 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Caterpillar by 7.8% during the 4th quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 1,074 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $318,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Caterpillar

In other news, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 4,575 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 23,474 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,741,725.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director David Maclennan acquired 350 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $323.37 per share, for a total transaction of $113,179.50. Following the purchase, the director now owns 5,238 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,693,812.06. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 4,575 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $329.80, for a total value of $1,508,835.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 23,474 shares in the company, valued at $7,741,725.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 35,769 shares of company stock worth $11,508,906 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on CAT shares. Truist Financial started coverage on shares of Caterpillar in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $390.00 price objective for the company. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Caterpillar in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $357.00 to $408.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $255.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Caterpillar presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $310.83.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CAT traded up $5.37 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $343.37. 3,324,221 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,496,459. The firm has a market capitalization of $171.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.17. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52 week low of $204.04 and a 52 week high of $382.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 0.87. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $350.10 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $300.80.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $5.60 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.12 by $0.48. The company had revenue of $15.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.07 billion. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 56.99% and a net margin of 15.41%. Analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.3 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 19th. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is 25.82%.

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.