Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) is Valley Brook Capital Group Inc.’s 9th Largest Position

Valley Brook Capital Group Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 1.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 7,200 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 135 shares during the quarter. Caterpillar makes up 1.8% of Valley Brook Capital Group Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position. Valley Brook Capital Group Inc.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $2,129,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. McIlrath & Eck LLC increased its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 789 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $233,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Lodestar Private Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Caterpillar by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Lodestar Private Asset Management LLC now owns 830 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $245,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,616 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $774,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,507 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,037,000 after buying an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ACT Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Caterpillar by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. ACT Wealth Management LLC now owns 877 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $259,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director David Maclennan bought 350 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were bought at an average price of $323.37 per share, with a total value of $113,179.50. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 5,238 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,693,812.06. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,886,667.84. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director David Maclennan bought 350 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $323.37 per share, for a total transaction of $113,179.50. Following the purchase, the director now owns 5,238 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,693,812.06. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CAT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Evercore ISI downgraded shares of Caterpillar from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $321.00 to $338.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Truist Financial started coverage on Caterpillar in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $390.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $255.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $290.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Caterpillar in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Caterpillar presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $323.35.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

NYSE CAT traded up $1.31 on Friday, hitting $336.75. 1,977,087 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,750,444. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $351.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $303.64. The firm has a market cap of $164.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.19. Caterpillar Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $205.60 and a fifty-two week high of $382.01.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $5.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.12 by $0.48. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 58.61% and a net margin of 16.79%. The firm had revenue of $15.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.07 billion. On average, research analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.79 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Investors of record on Monday, April 22nd will be issued a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 19th. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.48%.

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.