Connective Portfolio Management LLC Makes New Investment in Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Connective Portfolio Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 2,000 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $943,000. Caterpillar makes up about 1.7% of Connective Portfolio Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest position.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Richwood Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Richwood Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,184 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,519,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC increased its stake in Caterpillar by 64.9% in the 3rd quarter. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC now owns 122 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. raised its holdings in Caterpillar by 4.5% during the third quarter. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. now owns 28,145 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $13,430,000 after purchasing an additional 1,212 shares during the last quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in Caterpillar by 126.4% during the third quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,008 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $958,000 after purchasing an additional 1,121 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Weatherly Asset Management L. P. grew its holdings in Caterpillar by 1.2% in the third quarter. Weatherly Asset Management L. P. now owns 6,090 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,906,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CAT has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $485.00 to $555.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $729.00 price target (up previously from $582.00) on shares of Caterpillar in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $594.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Caterpillar in a research note on Monday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Caterpillar from $650.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Caterpillar has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $616.00.

Caterpillar Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of Caterpillar stock opened at $583.09 on Friday. Caterpillar Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $267.30 and a fifty-two week high of $627.50. The business’s fifty day moving average is $568.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is $476.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34. The firm has a market cap of $272.88 billion, a PE ratio of 29.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 1.57.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 3rd. The industrial products company reported $4.95 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.52 by $0.43. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 47.16% and a net margin of 14.34%.The business had revenue of $17.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.72 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $5.17 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 19th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 20th will be issued a dividend of $1.51 per share. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 20th. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.01%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director David Maclennan bought 300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 6th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $568.86 per share, for a total transaction of $170,658.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 7,947 shares in the company, valued at $4,520,730.42. This trade represents a 3.92% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 8,184 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $570.18, for a total transaction of $4,666,353.12. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 41,512 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,669,312.16. This represents a 16.47% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 61,895 shares of company stock valued at $34,007,516. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Caterpillar

Caterpillar Inc is a global manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines and locomotives. The company’s product portfolio includes earthmoving machines such as excavators, bulldozers, wheel loaders and off‑highway trucks, as well as a range of power generation products including generator sets and power systems for industrial and commercial use. Caterpillar serves customers across heavy construction, mining, energy, transportation and related industries with both equipment and integrated technology solutions.

In addition to manufacturing, Caterpillar provides a broad range of aftermarket parts and support services, including maintenance, repair, remanufacturing and fleet management tools.