Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. Decreases Stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. lowered its position in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 38.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,470 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 2,800 shares during the quarter. Caterpillar comprises approximately 0.5% of Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 29th largest holding. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $1,748,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in Caterpillar by 13.7% during the 1st quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,377 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,337,000 after acquiring an additional 767 shares in the last quarter. M&G Plc acquired a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $15,009,000. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC raised its position in shares of Caterpillar by 90.5% in the 1st quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC now owns 34,519 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $12,649,000 after purchasing an additional 16,395 shares in the last quarter. First Foundation Advisors raised its position in shares of Caterpillar by 4.8% in the 1st quarter. First Foundation Advisors now owns 3,861 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,415,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. raised its position in shares of Caterpillar by 266.9% in the 1st quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 265,743 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $97,376,000 after purchasing an additional 193,307 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Trading Up 0.1 %

NYSE:CAT opened at $387.36 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $379.68 and a 200-day moving average of $353.59. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1 year low of $241.81 and a 1 year high of $418.50. The stock has a market cap of $187.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.96, a PEG ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.40.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.33 by ($0.16). The firm had revenue of $16.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.37 billion. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 59.09% and a net margin of 16.26%. Caterpillar’s revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $5.52 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Investors of record on Monday, October 21st will be paid a $1.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 21st. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.46%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.15%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on CAT. UBS Group upped their target price on Caterpillar from $285.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Truist Financial upped their price target on Caterpillar from $399.00 to $456.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Evercore ISI lowered Caterpillar from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $321.00 to $365.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley lowered Caterpillar from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $349.00 to $332.00 in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Caterpillar from $299.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $365.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Cheryl H. Johnson sold 2,975 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $342.48, for a total transaction of $1,018,878.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,615 shares in the company, valued at $5,347,825.20. The trade was a 16.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 3,185 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $351.36, for a total value of $1,119,081.60. Following the sale, the insider now owns 33,442 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,750,181.12. This represents a 8.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 23,749 shares of company stock valued at $9,251,912. 0.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.