Synovus Financial Corp Raises Holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Synovus Financial Corp boosted its stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 2.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 38,551 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 745 shares during the period. Synovus Financial Corp’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $15,078,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Castellan Group boosted its stake in Caterpillar by 10.1% during the third quarter. Castellan Group now owns 16,637 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $6,507,000 after buying an additional 1,525 shares during the last quarter. Destination Wealth Management boosted its stake in Caterpillar by 37.3% during the third quarter. Destination Wealth Management now owns 854 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $334,000 after buying an additional 232 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB boosted its stake in Caterpillar by 139.2% during the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 21,129 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $8,264,000 after buying an additional 12,294 shares during the last quarter. Arvest Bank Trust Division acquired a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the 3rd quarter valued at $610,000. Finally, Sfmg LLC lifted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Sfmg LLC now owns 1,458 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $570,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CAT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America upped their price target on Caterpillar from $376.00 to $434.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. UBS Group upped their price target on Caterpillar from $285.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Truist Financial upped their price target on Caterpillar from $399.00 to $456.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Evercore ISI lowered Caterpillar from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $321.00 to $365.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Caterpillar from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Caterpillar has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $374.69.

Caterpillar Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CAT opened at $380.68 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $392.83 and its two-hundred day moving average is $360.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 0.86. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1-year low of $259.28 and a 1-year high of $418.50. The company has a market cap of $183.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.10.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.17 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.33 by ($0.16). Caterpillar had a return on equity of 59.09% and a net margin of 16.26%. The company had revenue of $16.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.37 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $5.52 EPS. Caterpillar’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be issued a $1.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 21st. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.48%. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is currently 26.15%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Cheryl H. Johnson sold 2,664 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $378.84, for a total value of $1,009,229.76. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,906,356.84. This represents a 17.06 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Gerald Johnson bought 100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $398.57 per share, with a total value of $39,857.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 2,953 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,176,977.21. This trade represents a 3.51 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 23,868 shares of company stock worth $9,679,489. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.