Valley National Advisers Inc. Acquires 65 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 1.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 6,650 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $2,411,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CAT. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Caterpillar during the third quarter valued at $36,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in Caterpillar during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC raised its position in Caterpillar by 42.9% in the 3rd 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 period. Albion Financial Group UT lifted its stake in Caterpillar by 334.8% in the fourth quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 130.0% during the fourth quarter. Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC now owns 115 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Caterpillar from $515.00 to $490.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $471.00 to $455.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $420.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $452.00 to $414.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $380.13.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

Shares of Caterpillar stock opened at $371.88 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $179.54 billion, a PE ratio of 17.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $380.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $371.07. Caterpillar Inc. has a one year low of $299.93 and a one year high of $418.50. 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 announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.97 by $0.17. Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.26% and a return on equity of 59.09%. Research analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be given a dividend of $1.41 per share. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.52%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 21st. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.15%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $380.09, for a total value of $3,800,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 45,182 shares in the company, valued at $17,173,226.38. This trade represents a 18.12 % 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, Director Daniel M. Dickinson sold 1,300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $418.00, for a total transaction of $543,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,079,968. This trade represents a 20.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 32,900 shares of company stock valued at $13,111,601. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.