CENTRAL TRUST Co Cuts Holdings in Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

CENTRAL TRUST Co trimmed its position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CATFree Report) by 2.5% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 35,609 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 899 shares during the quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $25,228,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Torren Management LLC bought a new stake in Caterpillar in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 220.0% during the 4th quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 48 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. IFS Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Rialto Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 47.4% in the fourth quarter. Rialto Wealth Management LLC now owns 56 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cornerstone Financial Management LLC bought a new stake in Caterpillar in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 360 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $906.00, for a total transaction of $326,160.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 530 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $480,180. This trade represents a 40.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Lange Bob De sold 24,222 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $922.92, for a total value of $22,354,968.24. Following the transaction, the insider owned 86,029 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $79,397,884.68. The trade was a 21.97% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 95,773 shares of company stock valued at $87,642,635 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $1,050.00 to $1,155.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,103.00 price target on shares of Caterpillar in a report on Monday, May 11th. Daiwa Securities Group lifted their price target on Caterpillar from $790.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on Caterpillar from $905.00 to $1,020.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $939.86.

Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on Caterpillar

Caterpillar News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Caterpillar this week:

Caterpillar Trading Down 3.5%

CAT stock opened at $986.44 on Wednesday. Caterpillar Inc. has a twelve month low of $367.92 and a twelve month high of $1,023.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $454.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $883.64 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $747.45.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CATGet Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.65 by $0.89. Caterpillar had a net margin of 13.33% and a return on equity of 48.21%. The firm had revenue of $17.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.53 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $4.25 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 22.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 24.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 20th will be paid a $1.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 20th. This is an increase from Caterpillar’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.51. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is 30.06%.

Caterpillar Company Profile

(Free Report)

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.

Further Reading

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT)

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