Caterpillar Inc. $CAT Shares Sold by Equitable Trust Co.

Equitable Trust Co. lessened its stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 14,575 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 267 shares during the quarter. Equitable Trust Co.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $5,658,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CAT. GSB Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Caterpillar by 1.2% during the second quarter. GSB Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,143 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $832,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Verum Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. Verum Partners LLC now owns 1,059 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $411,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors now owns 3,575 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,388,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. InTrack Investment Management Inc increased its position in Caterpillar by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. InTrack Investment Management Inc now owns 4,683 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,818,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares during the period. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. increased its position in Caterpillar by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 1,216 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $472,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Chairman Donald J. Umpleby III sold 17,168 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $412.87, for a total value of $7,088,152.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman directly owned 482,505 shares in the company, valued at approximately $199,211,839.35. This trade represents a 3.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,161 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.70, for a total transaction of $902,649.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 8,632 shares in the company, valued at $3,605,586.40. This represents a 20.02% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 38,819 shares of company stock worth $16,885,492. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $502.00 price target on Caterpillar in a research report on Tuesday. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Caterpillar from $480.00 to $513.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Caterpillar from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Melius Research upgraded Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $500.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Caterpillar in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $492.80.

Caterpillar Trading Up 2.8%

Shares of CAT opened at $505.11 on Tuesday. Caterpillar Inc. has a twelve month low of $267.30 and a twelve month high of $511.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $236.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $444.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $385.71.

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

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 20th. Investors of record on Monday, October 20th will be paid a $1.51 dividend. This represents a $6.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 20th. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.72%.

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.