Argent Trust Co Boosts Stock Position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Argent Trust Co lifted its position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 9.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 10,788 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 922 shares during the period. Argent Trust Co’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $3,913,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC bought a new position in Caterpillar during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Caterpillar in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com lowered Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Wedbush upgraded shares of Caterpillar to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $365.00 to $375.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. UBS Group raised Caterpillar from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $355.00 to $385.00 in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $438.00 to $389.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $373.20.

Caterpillar Trading Down 4.1 %

CAT stock opened at $288.56 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The company has a market capitalization of $137.91 billion, a PE ratio of 13.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.21. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $335.35 and its 200 day moving average is $367.76. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12 month low of $267.30 and a 12 month high of $418.50.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last announced its quarterly 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%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 21st will be paid a $1.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 21st. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.95%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.56%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Caterpillar news, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $380.09, for a total transaction of $3,800,900.00. Following the transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,425 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $354.70, for a total value of $860,147.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 6,275 shares in the company, valued at $2,225,742.50. The trade was a 27.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Caterpillar Profile

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.