Victory Capital Management Inc. Sells 167,586 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Victory Capital Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 25.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 482,895 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 167,586 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $175,175,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in Caterpillar by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 635,750 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $231,686,000 after buying an additional 10,212 shares during the period. West Wealth Group LLC bought a new position in Caterpillar in the 4th quarter valued at about $230,000. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI increased its holdings in Caterpillar by 43.0% in the 3rd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 13,902 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,437,000 after buying an additional 4,181 shares during the period. Cadinha & Co. LLC bought a new position in Caterpillar in the 4th quarter valued at about $11,084,000. Finally, Atomi Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Caterpillar by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 23,193 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $8,414,000 after buying an additional 871 shares during the period. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on CAT shares. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $420.00 to $430.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $455.00 to $438.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Wedbush upgraded shares of Caterpillar to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $455.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $365.00 to $375.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Caterpillar currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $383.80.

Caterpillar Stock Down 1.7 %

NYSE:CAT opened at $326.45 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $364.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $372.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 0.89. Caterpillar Inc. has a one year low of $307.05 and a one year high of $418.50. The company has a market cap of $156.02 billion, a PE ratio of 14.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.12.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.97 by $0.17. Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.65% and a return on equity of 58.18%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st were given a $1.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, January 21st. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.73%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.56%.

Insider Transactions at Caterpillar

In other news, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,425 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $354.70, for a total value of $860,147.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 6,275 shares in the company, valued at $2,225,742.50. The trade was a 27.87 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $380.09, for a total transaction of $3,800,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 45,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,173,226.38. This represents a 18.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

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.