Natixis Advisors LLC Sells 47,752 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Natixis Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 17.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 230,507 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 47,752 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $90,156,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the second quarter worth about $28,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. purchased a new position in Caterpillar in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Fairscale Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the second quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, POM Investment Strategies LLC increased its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 2,160.0% in the second quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 113 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 108 shares during the period. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 71,107 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,171,646.75. This represents a 15.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 968 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $380.98, for a total value of $368,788.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,686 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $642,332.28. The trade was a 36.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 23,749 shares of company stock worth $9,251,912 over the last 90 days. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on CAT. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Caterpillar from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $349.00 to $332.00 in a report on Monday, October 14th. Evercore ISI downgraded Caterpillar from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $321.00 to $365.00 in a report on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Caterpillar from $299.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Citigroup reduced their target price on Caterpillar from $445.00 to $435.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Truist Financial raised 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. Four equities research 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 data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $365.33.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

Shares of CAT opened at $384.07 on Friday. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52 week low of $241.81 and a 52 week high of $418.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33. The stock has a market cap of $185.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.10. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $381.86 and its 200-day moving average price is $354.07.

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

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.47%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.15%.

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.