Eastern Bank Has $5.56 Million Stock Position in Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Eastern Bank lowered its holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 9.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,309 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,467 shares during the quarter. Eastern Bank’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $5,555,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Trivium Point Advisory LLC grew its holdings in Caterpillar by 132.9% in the 2nd quarter. Trivium Point Advisory LLC now owns 1,926 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $748,000 after buying an additional 1,099 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 9.9% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 78,947 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $26,037,000 after acquiring an additional 7,125 shares during the period. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 11.2% in the 2nd quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 14,315 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,557,000 after acquiring an additional 1,440 shares during the period. Ransom Advisory Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the 1st quarter worth approximately $427,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,304,448 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,089,798,000 after acquiring an additional 15,347 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on CAT shares. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Caterpillar from $507.00 to $582.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Caterpillar in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Melius upgraded Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $500.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Caterpillar from $480.00 to $513.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Caterpillar from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $478.20.

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In related news, Chairman Donald J. Umpleby III sold 17,166 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $462.65, for a total transaction of $7,941,849.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman directly owned 465,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $215,289,088.35. This trade represents a 3.56% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,161 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.70, for a total value of $902,649.70. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 8,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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. Insiders sold 38,819 shares of company stock valued at $16,885,492 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Price Performance

Caterpillar stock opened at $491.67 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $443.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $383.88. Caterpillar Inc. has a one year low of $267.30 and a one year high of $511.50. The company has a market capitalization of $230.34 billion, a PE ratio of 25.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 1.46. 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 (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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.88 by ($0.16). Caterpillar had a net margin of 14.95% and a return on equity of 48.95%. The business had revenue of $16.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $5.99 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

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

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.