Davidson Trust Co. Reduces Stock Holdings in Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Davidson Trust Co. lowered its position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 7.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,262 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 102 shares during the quarter. Davidson Trust Co.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $490,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of CAT. Pacific Point Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Caterpillar during the fourth quarter worth about $579,000. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in Caterpillar by 51.5% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,409 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,688,000 after buying an additional 2,519 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Caterpillar by 32.0% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 11,311 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,730,000 after buying an additional 2,745 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Caterpillar by 18.6% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 191,640 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $63,202,000 after buying an additional 30,070 shares during the period. Finally, Mission Wealth Management LP boosted its stake in Caterpillar by 32.3% during the first quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP now owns 10,612 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,500,000 after buying an additional 2,593 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CAT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Melius Research raised shares of Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $500.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Caterpillar in a research note on Tuesday. Melius raised shares of Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $500.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $495.00 to $517.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $507.00 to $582.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Two 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $501.47.

Caterpillar Stock Up 4.8%

Shares of NYSE:CAT opened at $528.75 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $446.55 and its 200 day moving average price is $386.71. The stock has a market cap of $247.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.46. Caterpillar Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $267.30 and a fifty-two week high of $531.56. 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 (NYSE:CAT) last issued its 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 firm had revenue of $16.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 last year, the business earned $5.99 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 20th. Investors of record on Monday, October 20th will be issued a $1.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 20th. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.72%.

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In other news, Chairman Donald J. Umpleby III sold 17,166 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $505.29, for a total transaction of $8,673,808.14. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman owned 448,173 shares in the company, valued at approximately $226,457,335.17. The trade was a 3.69% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,161 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owned 8,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,605,586.40. This represents a 20.02% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 55,985 shares of company stock valued at $25,559,300 over the last 90 days. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.