Wedmont Private Capital Raises Stock Holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Wedmont Private Capital lifted its stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 7.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,331 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 485 shares during the quarter. Wedmont Private Capital’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $2,573,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in CAT. Fairscale Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Caterpillar during the 2nd quarter valued at $36,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Caterpillar in the third quarter valued at about $36,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC boosted its position in Caterpillar by 42.9% in the third quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC now owns 100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. HWG Holdings LP bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the 2nd quarter valued at about $54,000. Finally, SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. increased its position in shares of Caterpillar by 47.2% during the 3rd quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 156 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Gerald Johnson bought 100 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $398.57 per share, for a total transaction of $39,857.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 2,953 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,176,977.21. The trade was a 3.51 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 968 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $380.98, for a total transaction of $368,788.64. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,686 shares in the company, 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 sold 23,868 shares of company stock valued at $9,679,489 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Price Performance

Shares of Caterpillar stock traded up $10.02 during trading on Monday, reaching $361.02. 1,282,572 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,742,725. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The company has a market capitalization of $174.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.13. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52-week low of $276.94 and a 52-week high of $418.50. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $382.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $365.69.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its quarterly earnings data 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). The firm had revenue of $16.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.37 billion. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 59.09% and a net margin of 16.26%. The business’s revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $5.52 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.68 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be given a dividend of $1.41 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 21st. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.56%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.15%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $454.00 to $471.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Bank of America raised their target price on Caterpillar from $376.00 to $434.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Caterpillar from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Evercore ISI raised Caterpillar from an “underperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $365.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $299.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $384.33.

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.