Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) Shares Purchased by Private Trust Co. NA

Private Trust Co. NA boosted its holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 5.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,453 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 422 shares during the period. Private Trust Co. NA’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $3,066,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Goldstone Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the 3rd quarter valued at about $619,000. Great Diamond Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the 3rd quarter valued at about $207,000. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA lifted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 15.8% in the 3rd quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA now owns 2,860 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,107,000 after purchasing an additional 390 shares in the last quarter. Oak Harvest Investment Services lifted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Oak Harvest Investment Services now owns 4,240 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,658,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Catalyst Financial Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 4,623 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,808,000 after buying an additional 272 shares during the period. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Caterpillar news, Director Gerald Johnson acquired 100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $398.57 per share, for a total transaction of $39,857.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 2,953 shares in the company, valued at $1,176,977.21. This trade represents a 3.51 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $380.09, for a total value of $3,800,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 45,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,173,226.38. This trade represents a 18.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Wedbush upgraded Caterpillar to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Caterpillar from $365.00 to $375.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Truist Financial dropped their target price on Caterpillar from $455.00 to $438.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Caterpillar from $455.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on Caterpillar from $420.00 to $430.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $383.80.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CAT opened at $340.68 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.42. The firm has a market cap of $162.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.12. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $366.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $372.66. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52 week low of $307.05 and a 52 week high of $418.50.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.97 by $0.17. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 58.18% and a net margin of 16.65%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 21st were given a dividend of $1.41 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, January 21st. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.66%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.56%.

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.