Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec Buys 200,210 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec boosted its position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 34.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 782,133 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 200,210 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec owned approximately 0.16% of Caterpillar worth $305,908,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Caterpillar by 2.6% during the third quarter. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC now owns 1,037 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $405,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the period. First Bank & Trust increased its stake in Caterpillar by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. First Bank & Trust now owns 709 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $277,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Washington Trust Bank raised its holdings in Caterpillar by 1.2% during the third quarter. Washington Trust Bank now owns 2,349 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $919,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 1.6% during the third quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 1,807 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $707,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors increased its position in shares of Caterpillar by 0.8% during the third quarter. Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors now owns 3,466 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,356,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI cut shares of Caterpillar from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $321.00 to $365.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. StockNews.com lowered Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Caterpillar from $435.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Caterpillar from $399.00 to $456.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $365.33.

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In other Caterpillar news, Director Gerald Johnson bought 100 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $338.59 per share, for a total transaction of $33,859.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 2,842 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $962,272.78. This trade represents a 3.65 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Lange Bob De sold 12,657 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $410.25, for a total transaction of $5,192,534.25. Following the sale, the insider now owns 71,107 shares in the company, valued at $29,171,646.75. The trade was a 15.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 17,589 shares of company stock worth $7,113,953. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

Shares of CAT stock opened at $406.11 on Friday. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52 week low of $247.84 and a 52 week high of $418.50. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $391.37 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $357.75. The firm has a market cap of $196.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.99 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.17 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.52 EPS. Caterpillar’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Investors of record on Monday, October 21st were issued a $1.41 dividend. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.39%. 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.