Synergy Asset Management LLC Lowers Position in Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Synergy Asset Management LLC lowered its holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 4.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,625 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 122 shares during the period. Synergy Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $1,019,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Compass Financial Services Inc raised its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 49.2% in the 1st quarter. Compass Financial Services Inc now owns 94 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Family Legacy Financial Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,000. Curat Global LLC purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the 1st quarter valued at about $33,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the 1st quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Fiduciary Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the 1st quarter valued at about $45,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on CAT shares. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Caterpillar from $495.00 to $540.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Caterpillar in a report on Monday, July 14th. Barclays raised their price objective on Caterpillar from $383.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Caterpillar from $480.00 to $513.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on Caterpillar from $495.00 to $517.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Caterpillar currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $466.53.

Insider Transactions at Caterpillar

In other news, Chairman Donald J. Umpleby III sold 17,166 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $462.65, for a total value of $7,941,849.90. Following the sale, the chairman directly owned 465,339 shares in the company, valued at approximately $215,289,088.35. This trade represents a 3.56% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,161 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.70, for a total value of $902,649.70. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 8,632 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,605,586.40. This represents a 20.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 38,819 shares of company stock worth $16,885,492. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Caterpillar Price Performance

CAT opened at $490.88 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $435.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $377.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 0.81. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1 year low of $267.30 and a 1 year high of $495.98. The firm has a market cap of $229.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.97, a PEG ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 1.46.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The industrial products company reported $4.72 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.88 by ($0.16). The business had revenue of $16.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.14 billion. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 48.95% and a net margin of 14.95%.Caterpillar’s quarterly revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $5.99 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current year.

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.