Synergy Investment Management LLC Makes New $109,000 Investment in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 300 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $109,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in Caterpillar by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 635,750 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $231,686,000 after purchasing an additional 10,212 shares in the last quarter. West Wealth Group LLC purchased a new position in Caterpillar during the 4th quarter worth approximately $230,000. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI grew its position in Caterpillar by 43.0% during the 3rd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 13,902 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,437,000 after purchasing an additional 4,181 shares in the last quarter. Cadinha & Co. LLC purchased a new position in Caterpillar during the 4th quarter worth approximately $11,084,000. Finally, Atomi Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 23,193 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $8,414,000 after buying an additional 871 shares during the period. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $455.00 to $438.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $452.00 to $414.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $365.00 to $375.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Wedbush raised shares of Caterpillar to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $383.80.

Caterpillar Stock Down 1.7 %

CAT stock opened at $326.45 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 0.89. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52-week low of $307.05 and a 52-week high of $418.50. The company has a 50-day moving average of $364.49 and a two-hundred day moving average of $372.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $156.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.12.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.97 by $0.17. Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.65% and a return on equity of 58.18%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st were issued a dividend of $1.41 per share. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.73%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, January 21st. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.56%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $380.09, for a total transaction of $3,800,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 45,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,173,226.38. This represents a 18.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,425 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $354.70, for a total transaction of $860,147.50. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,275 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,225,742.50. This represents a 27.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.29% of the stock is owned by company 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.