Community Trust & Investment Co. Makes New Investment in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Community Trust & Investment Co. bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 1,020 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $399,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Thompson Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the first quarter worth approximately $27,000. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the second quarter worth approximately $28,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the second quarter worth approximately $28,000. Fairman Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the first quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Fairscale Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the second quarter worth approximately $36,000. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on CAT. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $380.00 to $445.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $376.00 to $434.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $399.00 to $456.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. StockNews.com cut shares of Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $355.50.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

Shares of Caterpillar stock opened at $388.48 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39. Caterpillar Inc. has a twelve month low of $223.76 and a twelve month high of $403.60. The stock has a market cap of $189.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.10. The company’s fifty day moving average is $365.94 and its 200 day moving average is $350.37.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The industrial products company reported $5.99 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.53 by $0.46. The company had revenue of $16.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.91 billion. Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.58% and a return on equity of 59.88%. Caterpillar’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.55 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.91 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 21st will be given a dividend of $1.41 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 21st. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.45%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.46%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In other Caterpillar news, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 3,185 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $351.36, for a total transaction of $1,119,081.60. Following the sale, the insider now owns 33,442 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,750,181.12. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Cheryl H. Johnson sold 2,975 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $342.48, for a total transaction of $1,018,878.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 15,615 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,347,825.20. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 3,185 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $351.36, for a total transaction of $1,119,081.60. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 33,442 shares in the company, valued at $11,750,181.12. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

About Caterpillar

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.