West Branch Capital LLC Acquires 31 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

West Branch Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 6.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 481 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. West Branch Capital LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $188,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Thompson Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Fairman Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the 1st quarter worth approximately $29,000. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Fairscale Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CAT has been the subject of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Caterpillar from $435.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. StockNews.com downgraded Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Truist Financial upped their price target on Caterpillar from $399.00 to $456.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Morgan Stanley downgraded Caterpillar from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $349.00 to $332.00 in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Caterpillar from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $355.50.

Caterpillar Trading Down 0.2 %

NYSE:CAT traded down $0.63 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $393.86. The stock had a trading volume of 3,024,091 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,638,629. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $363.86 and a 200 day moving average of $350.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39. The company has a market capitalization of $192.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.78, a PEG ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.10. Caterpillar Inc. has a one year low of $223.76 and a one year high of $403.60.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The industrial products company reported $5.99 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.53 by $0.46. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 59.88% and a net margin of 16.58%. The company had revenue of $16.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.91 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $5.55 earnings per share. Caterpillar’s revenue was down 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.91 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 21st will be issued a dividend of $1.41 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 21st. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.43%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.46%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Gerald Johnson bought 100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $338.59 per share, with a total value of $33,859.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,842 shares in the company, valued at approximately $962,272.78. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, Director Gerald Johnson bought 100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $338.59 per share, with a total value of $33,859.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,842 shares in the company, valued at approximately $962,272.78. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Cheryl H. Johnson sold 2,975 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $342.48, for a total value of $1,018,878.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,615 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,347,825.20. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar 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.