Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 9,760,000 shares, a decline of 7.8% from the October 31st total of 10,590,000 shares. Approximately 2.0% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 2,350,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.2 days.

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In related news, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 968 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $380.98, for a total value of $368,788.64. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,686 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $642,332.28. This represents a 36.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Gerald Johnson bought 100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $338.59 per share, for a total transaction of $33,859.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 2,842 shares in the company, valued at approximately $962,272.78. This represents a 3.65 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 17,589 shares of company stock worth $7,113,953 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Caterpillar by 39,534.0% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,136,667 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $8,356,930,000 after purchasing an additional 2,131,276 shares in the last quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd lifted its stake in Caterpillar by 3,319.7% in the 2nd quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 275,011 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $91,606,000 after buying an additional 266,969 shares in the last quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI raised its stake in Caterpillar by 4,018.6% in the 3rd quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 255,355 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $99,874,000 after purchasing an additional 249,155 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Caterpillar by 2.3% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 8,952,632 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,501,554,000 after acquiring an additional 205,012 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its stake in Caterpillar by 34.4% in the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 782,133 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $305,908,000 after purchasing an additional 200,210 shares during the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CAT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $299.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $376.00 to $434.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Caterpillar from $399.00 to $456.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Caterpillar from $285.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $435.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $365.33.

Caterpillar Trading Down 0.9 %

CAT stock traded down $3.58 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $402.53. 1,548,474 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,587,731. The stock has a market capitalization of $194.34 billion, a PE ratio of 18.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.10. Caterpillar has a 1-year low of $252.42 and a 1-year high of $418.50. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $391.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $357.73. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.17 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.33 by ($0.16). Caterpillar had a return on equity of 59.09% and a net margin of 16.26%. The business had revenue of $16.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.37 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $5.52 earnings per share. Caterpillar’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Caterpillar will post 21.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 21st were given a dividend of $1.41 per share. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 21st. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.15%.

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.