First County Bank CT Trims Position in Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

First County Bank CT lessened its holdings in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 5.9% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,927 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 184 shares during the quarter. First County Bank CT’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $1,136,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 6.7% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 4,204,445 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,386,626,000 after acquiring an additional 264,054 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Caterpillar by 0.5% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,304,448 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,089,798,000 after purchasing an additional 15,347 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 9.1% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,229,080 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,064,951,000 after buying an additional 268,300 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 5.0% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,141,936 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,036,211,000 after buying an additional 150,533 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 1,416,464 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $467,150,000 after buying an additional 5,559 shares during the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Susan C. Schwab sold 2,324 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $410.00, for a total value of $952,840.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 6,917 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,835,970. This represents a 25.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,161 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.70, for a total transaction of $902,649.70. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 8,632 shares in the company, valued at $3,605,586.40. This represents a 20.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 38,819 shares of company stock worth $16,885,492. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on CAT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Caterpillar from $475.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Caterpillar in a report on Monday, July 14th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $495.00 to $517.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 22nd. Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $493.00 to $480.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 29th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $414.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $464.33.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

Shares of CAT stock opened at $466.06 on Monday. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12 month low of $267.30 and a 12 month high of $485.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $218.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $430.98 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $373.99.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The industrial products company reported $4.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.88 by ($0.16). Caterpillar had a return on equity of 48.95% and a net margin of 14.95%.The business had revenue of $16.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.99 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.