Copley Financial Group Inc. Makes New Investment in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Copley Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 2,045 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $800,000. Caterpillar comprises approximately 0.7% of Copley Financial Group Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 19th biggest position.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. acquired a new position in Caterpillar during the 3rd quarter valued at about $225,000. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the third quarter valued at approximately $3,132,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Caterpillar by 14.3% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 443,315 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $174,644,000 after buying an additional 55,448 shares during the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp lifted its stake in Caterpillar by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 38,551 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $15,078,000 after acquiring an additional 745 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Castellan Group boosted its holdings in Caterpillar by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter. Castellan Group now owns 16,637 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $6,507,000 after acquiring an additional 1,525 shares during the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on CAT shares. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Caterpillar from $299.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Truist Financial raised their target price on Caterpillar from $399.00 to $456.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $285.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $376.00 to $434.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut shares of Caterpillar from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $321.00 to $365.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $374.69.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Gerald Johnson purchased 100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $398.57 per share, with a total value of $39,857.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 2,953 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,176,977.21. This trade represents a 3.51 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Daniel M. Dickinson sold 1,300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $418.00, for a total value of $543,400.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 4,976 shares in the company, valued at $2,079,968. This trade represents a 20.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 23,868 shares of company stock valued at $9,679,489 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Price Performance

NYSE CAT traded up $1.67 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $382.45. The company had a trading volume of 210,265 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,545,364. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $392.83 and a 200 day simple moving average of $360.00. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52 week low of $270.55 and a 52 week high of $418.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $184.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.65, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.10. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.17 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.33 by ($0.16). Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.26% and a return on equity of 59.09%. The firm had revenue of $16.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.37 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.52 EPS. Caterpillar’s revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.68 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 20th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be paid a $1.41 dividend. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.47%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 21st. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.15%.

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.