Covington Investment Advisors Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Covington Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 1.5% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 14,545 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the period. Covington Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $5,689,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 12.0% during the third quarter. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd now owns 23,040 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $9,011,000 after purchasing an additional 2,469 shares during the period. Qsemble Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Caterpillar during the 3rd quarter worth $1,123,000. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 900,971 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $352,352,000 after acquiring an additional 24,577 shares during the period. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 1.0% in the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 8,031 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,141,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 26.9% during the third quarter. Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC now owns 8,216 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,213,000 after acquiring an additional 1,743 shares during the period. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

NYSE CAT opened at $405.65 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33. Caterpillar Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $246.01 and a fifty-two week high of $418.50. The business has a fifty day moving average of $387.97 and a 200-day moving average of $356.38. The stock has a market cap of $195.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.10.

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). Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.26% and a return on equity of 59.09%. The firm had revenue of $16.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.37 billion. Caterpillar’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $5.52 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 21st were paid a $1.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 21st. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.39%. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is currently 26.15%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Lange Bob De sold 12,657 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $410.25, for a total transaction of $5,192,534.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 71,107 shares in the company, valued at $29,171,646.75. This represents a 15.11 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 3,185 shares of the business’s 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 directly owns 33,442 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,750,181.12. This trade represents a 8.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 20,774 shares of company stock valued at $8,233,034 in the last quarter. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CAT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Citigroup decreased their price target on Caterpillar from $445.00 to $435.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Caterpillar from $399.00 to $456.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $285.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Caterpillar from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their price target for the company from $349.00 to $332.00 in a report on Monday, October 14th. 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, Caterpillar has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $365.33.

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.