Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Has $291,000 Stock Position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC grew its holdings in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 4.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 985 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 42 shares during the quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $291,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Gilfoyle & Co LLC bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the third quarter valued at about $41,000. Rational Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the third quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, Milestone Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the third quarter valued at about $44,000. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on CAT shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Caterpillar from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Evercore ISI lowered shares of Caterpillar from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $321.00 to $338.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $385.00 to $435.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Truist Financial started coverage on shares of Caterpillar in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $390.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered shares of Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $293.00 to $350.00 in a research report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $310.83.

Caterpillar Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CAT opened at $343.37 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $350.10 and a 200 day moving average of $300.80. The stock has a market cap of $171.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.17. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12 month low of $204.04 and a 12 month high of $382.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $5.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.12 by $0.48. The company had revenue of $15.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.07 billion. Caterpillar had a net margin of 15.41% and a return on equity of 56.99%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 22nd will be paid a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 19th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.51%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.82%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Caterpillar news, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 4,575 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $329.80, for a total value of $1,508,835.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 23,474 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,741,725.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, insider Lange Bob De sold 21,194 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $325.52, for a total value of $6,899,070.88. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 61,092 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,886,667.84. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 4,575 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $329.80, for a total transaction of $1,508,835.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 23,474 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,741,725.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 35,769 shares of company stock valued at $11,508,906 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

About Caterpillar

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.