Valley Brook Capital Group Inc. Sells 205 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Valley Brook Capital Group Inc. reduced its stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,596 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 205 shares during the quarter. Caterpillar accounts for 2.2% of Valley Brook Capital Group Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. Valley Brook Capital Group Inc.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $2,949,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CAT. GSB Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Caterpillar by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. GSB Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,143 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $832,000 after buying an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Verum Partners LLC lifted its position in Caterpillar by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. Verum Partners LLC now owns 1,059 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $411,000 after buying an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors lifted its position in Caterpillar by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors now owns 3,575 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,388,000 after buying an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. InTrack Investment Management Inc lifted its position in Caterpillar by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. InTrack Investment Management Inc now owns 4,683 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,818,000 after buying an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. lifted its position in Caterpillar by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 1,216 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $472,000 after buying an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In other Caterpillar news, Chairman Donald J. Umpleby III sold 17,168 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $412.87, for a total transaction of $7,088,152.16. Following the transaction, the chairman owned 482,505 shares in the company, valued at $199,211,839.35. This represents a 3.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Susan C. Schwab sold 2,324 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $410.00, for a total transaction of $952,840.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 6,917 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,835,970. The trade was a 25.15% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 38,819 shares of company stock valued at $16,885,492 in the last three months. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CAT has been the topic of several analyst reports. Evercore ISI raised shares of Caterpillar from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $476.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $480.00 to $513.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $383.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $495.00 to $540.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Caterpillar has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $478.20.

Caterpillar Stock Down 1.7%

Caterpillar stock opened at $491.67 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $230.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. Caterpillar Inc. has a twelve month low of $267.30 and a twelve month high of $511.50. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $443.23 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $384.17.

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

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 20th will be issued a $1.51 dividend. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 20th. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.72%.

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.