Legacy Private Trust Co. Invests $1.07 Million in Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Legacy Private Trust Co. bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 2,246 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,072,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in CAT. Kwmg LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the third quarter worth approximately $240,000. Wedmont Private Capital increased its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 6.7% during the third quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 8,084 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,934,000 after buying an additional 511 shares during the period. Czech National Bank raised its holdings in Caterpillar by 3.5% in the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 118,984 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $56,773,000 after acquiring an additional 4,023 shares in the last quarter. Balefire LLC grew its position in shares of Caterpillar by 2.9% during the third quarter. Balefire LLC now owns 1,622 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $774,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Leverty Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the third quarter valued at approximately $300,000. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $380.00 to $395.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $729.00 price objective (up from $582.00) on shares of Caterpillar in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $506.00 to $581.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $513.00 to $645.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Argus increased their price target on Caterpillar from $460.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $612.16.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Lange Bob De sold 14,638 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $562.36, for a total transaction of $8,231,825.68. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 80,209 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,106,333.24. This represents a 15.43% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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 Monday, December 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $571.44, for a total transaction of $5,714,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 55,460 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,692,062.40. This trade represents a 15.28% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 79,061 shares of company stock worth $41,949,366. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Stock Down 4.7%

Shares of Caterpillar stock opened at $561.25 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 0.86. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1-year low of $267.30 and a 1-year high of $627.50. The business has a 50-day moving average of $559.75 and a 200-day moving average of $466.41. The company has a market capitalization of $262.66 billion, a PE ratio of 28.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.57.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $4.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.52 by $0.43. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 47.16% and a net margin of 14.34%.The company had revenue of $17.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.72 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $5.17 EPS. Caterpillar’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 19th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 20th will be paid a $1.51 dividend. This represents a $6.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 20th. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.01%.

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.