Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Has $2.23 Million Position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC reduced its position in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 2.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,553 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 154 shares during the quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $2,233,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Calamos Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Caterpillar by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,751 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $518,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. abrdn plc increased its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 32.1% in the fourth quarter. abrdn plc now owns 368,391 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $108,922,000 after acquiring an additional 89,447 shares during the last quarter. Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc. increased its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc. now owns 18,006 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,324,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS increased its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 9.6% in the fourth quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS now owns 972 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $287,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Finally, J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 12.6% in the fourth quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 8,573 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,535,000 after acquiring an additional 958 shares during the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on CAT shares. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $210.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $300.00 to $338.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. StockNews.com cut shares of Caterpillar from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $255.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut shares of Caterpillar from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $321.00 to $338.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $307.56.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Lange Bob De sold 21,194 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $325.52, for a total transaction of $6,899,070.88. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 61,092 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,886,667.84. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Caterpillar news, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.04, for a total value of $3,000,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 67,317 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,197,792.68. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Lange Bob De sold 21,194 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $325.52, for a total transaction of $6,899,070.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 61,092 shares in the company, valued at $19,886,667.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 45,769 shares of company stock valued at $14,509,306 over the last three months. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Caterpillar Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CAT traded down $1.96 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $354.66. 2,929,591 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,086,614. The company has a market cap of $177.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.61, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.17. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $346.70 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $297.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 1.35. Caterpillar Inc. has a twelve month low of $204.04 and a twelve month high of $382.01.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 5th. The industrial products company reported $5.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.76 by $0.47. The company had revenue of $17.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.06 billion. Caterpillar had a net margin of 15.41% and a return on equity of 56.99%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.86 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 22nd will be paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 19th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.47%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.82%.

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.