Venture Visionary Partners LLC Has $10.19 Million Position in Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Venture Visionary Partners LLC boosted its position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 5.4% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 30,888 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,589 shares during the quarter. Venture Visionary Partners LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $10,187,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Investment Management Corp VA ADV bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Curat Global LLC bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the 1st quarter valued at about $33,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the 1st quarter valued at about $33,000. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

NYSE:CAT opened at $412.74 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $400.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $356.07. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1 year low of $267.30 and a 1 year high of $441.15. The company has a market capitalization of $193.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.40.

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

Caterpillar Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Investors of record on Monday, July 21st will be paid a dividend of $1.51 per share. This represents a $6.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 21st. This is a positive change from Caterpillar’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.41. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.72%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,161 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.70, for a total transaction of $902,649.70. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 8,632 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,605,586.40. The trade was a 20.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CAT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Barclays upped their target price on Caterpillar from $383.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Caterpillar from $395.00 to $483.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Evercore ISI cut their target price on Caterpillar from $375.00 to $373.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Caterpillar in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Melius Research upgraded Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $500.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Caterpillar currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $444.00.

Caterpillar 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.