Range Financial Group LLC Purchases 752 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Range Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 53.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,170 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 752 shares during the quarter. Range Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $787,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in Caterpillar in the third quarter worth $36,000. Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the second quarter worth about $36,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC boosted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 42.9% during the 3rd quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC now owns 100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. increased its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 47.2% during the 3rd quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 156 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HWG Holdings LP bought a new stake in Caterpillar during the second quarter worth approximately $54,000. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In related news, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 968 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $380.98, for a total value of $368,788.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,686 shares in the company, valued at approximately $642,332.28. The trade was a 36.47 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gerald Johnson acquired 100 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $398.57 per share, with a total value of $39,857.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,953 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,176,977.21. This represents a 3.51 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 23,868 shares of company stock worth $9,679,489 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on CAT. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $299.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Caterpillar from $285.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Truist Financial raised their target price on Caterpillar from $454.00 to $471.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. StockNews.com raised shares of Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered shares of Caterpillar from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $321.00 to $365.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $384.33.

Caterpillar Price Performance

NYSE CAT traded down $0.96 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $363.24. 1,607,339 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,597,117. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $383.90 and a 200-day moving average of $364.82. Caterpillar Inc. has a one year low of $276.94 and a one year high of $418.50. The stock has a market cap of $175.37 billion, a PE ratio of 16.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.33 by ($0.16). Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.26% and a return on equity of 59.09%. The business had revenue of $16.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.37 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.52 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be given a dividend of $1.41 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 21st. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.55%. Caterpillar’s 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.