Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. Decreases Stake in Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. lessened its stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 5.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 17,663 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,017 shares during the quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $8,428,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,165,899,000. Groupe la Francaise lifted its holdings in Caterpillar by 82.0% in the second quarter. Groupe la Francaise now owns 27,246 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $10,820,000 after buying an additional 12,278 shares during the period. Trivium Point Advisory LLC boosted its position in Caterpillar by 132.9% during the 2nd quarter. Trivium Point Advisory LLC now owns 1,926 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $748,000 after acquiring an additional 1,099 shares in the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA grew its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 155.9% during the 3rd quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA now owns 47,231 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $21,014,000 after acquiring an additional 28,773 shares during the period. Finally, Palmer Knight Co bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $5,884,000. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on CAT shares. Wolfe Research upped their price target on Caterpillar from $470.00 to $670.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 2nd. DA Davidson upped their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $408.00 to $569.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $729.00 price target (up from $582.00) on shares of Caterpillar in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. HSBC raised shares of Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $405.00 to $660.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $485.00 to $555.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Caterpillar has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $625.85.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

Shares of CAT opened at $628.61 on Wednesday. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12 month low of $267.30 and a 12 month high of $655.68. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $589.63 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $506.98. The company has a market cap of $294.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 3rd. The industrial products company reported $4.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.52 by $0.43. Caterpillar had a net margin of 14.34% and a return on equity of 47.16%. The business had revenue of $17.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.72 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $5.17 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate 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, February 19th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 20th will be issued a $1.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 20th. This represents a $6.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Jason Kaiser sold 10,707 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $563.60, for a total transaction of $6,034,465.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 8,649 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,874,576.40. The trade was a 55.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $575.06, for a total transaction of $5,750,600.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 45,460 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,142,227.60. The trade was a 18.03% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 54,729 shares of company stock valued at $31,084,308 in the last 90 days. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Caterpillar

Caterpillar Inc is a global manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines and locomotives. The company’s product portfolio includes earthmoving machines such as excavators, bulldozers, wheel loaders and off‑highway trucks, as well as a range of power generation products including generator sets and power systems for industrial and commercial use. Caterpillar serves customers across heavy construction, mining, energy, transportation and related industries with both equipment and integrated technology solutions.

In addition to manufacturing, Caterpillar provides a broad range of aftermarket parts and support services, including maintenance, repair, remanufacturing and fleet management tools.