Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Acquires 1,647 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 16.6% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 11,559 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,647 shares during the quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $6,092,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Caterpillar by 2.3% in the second quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 9,418,321 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,656,286,000 after purchasing an additional 208,196 shares in the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in Caterpillar by 36,842.1% during the 2nd quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,299,751 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,833,836,000 after acquiring an additional 7,279,991 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Caterpillar during the second quarter worth about $2,165,899,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Caterpillar by 1.0% in the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,337,915 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,295,432,000 after purchasing an additional 33,467 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 4.5% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,282,720 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,274,385,000 after purchasing an additional 140,784 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Caterpillar news, insider Jason Kaiser sold 10,707 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $563.60, for a total value of $6,034,465.20. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 8,649 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,874,576.40. The trade was a 55.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 8,184 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $570.18, for a total transaction of $4,666,353.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 41,512 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,669,312.16. The trade was a 16.47% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 54,729 shares of company stock valued at $31,084,308 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of Caterpillar stock opened at $646.95 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $302.76 billion, a PE ratio of 33.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.57. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1-year low of $267.30 and a 1-year high of $655.68. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $588.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $505.37.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 3rd. The industrial products company reported $4.95 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.52 by $0.43. Caterpillar had a net margin of 14.34% and a return on equity of 47.16%. The firm had revenue of $17.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.72 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $5.17 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 19th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 20th will be issued a $1.51 dividend. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 20th. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is 31.01%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on CAT shares. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Caterpillar from $570.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Erste Group Bank raised Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of Caterpillar in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $675.00 price objective on the stock. Hsbc Global Res raised Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on Caterpillar from $690.00 to $710.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $623.10.

Caterpillar Company Profile

Caterpillar Inc is a global manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines and locomotives. The company’s product portfolio includes earthmoving machines such as excavators, bulldozers, wheel loaders and off‑highway trucks, as well as a range of power generation products including generator sets and power systems for industrial and commercial use. Caterpillar serves customers across heavy construction, mining, energy, transportation and related industries with both equipment and integrated technology solutions.

In addition to manufacturing, Caterpillar provides a broad range of aftermarket parts and support services, including maintenance, repair, remanufacturing and fleet management tools.