Davidson Trust Co. Increases Position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Davidson Trust Co. increased its stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 5.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,177 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 60 shares during the quarter. Davidson Trust Co.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $348,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Gilfoyle & Co LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. purchased a new stake in Caterpillar in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Caterpillar by 272.4% in the first quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 108 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Caterpillar by 730.8% in the first quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 108 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Capital Advisors Group LLC. purchased a new stake in Caterpillar in the second quarter valued at $30,000. 70.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CAT has been the topic of several recent research reports. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $300.00 to $338.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $357.00 to $408.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $216.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 21st. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $210.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Caterpillar from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $307.56.

Caterpillar Price Performance

Shares of CAT traded down $1.84 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $354.79. 990,227 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,414,968. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1-year low of $204.04 and a 1-year high of $382.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 1.35. The company has a 50 day moving average of $345.95 and a 200-day moving average of $297.21. The stock has a market cap of $177.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.17.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 5th. The industrial products company reported $5.23 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.76 by $0.47. The company had revenue of $17.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.06 billion. Caterpillar had a net margin of 15.41% and a return on equity of 56.99%. Caterpillar’s quarterly revenue was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.86 EPS. Analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 22nd will be issued a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 19th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.47%. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is 25.82%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In other Caterpillar news, insider Lange Bob De sold 21,194 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $325.52, for a total value of $6,899,070.88. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 61,092 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,886,667.84. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 4,575 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $329.80, for a total transaction of $1,508,835.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 23,474 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,741,725.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Lange Bob De sold 21,194 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $325.52, for a total transaction of $6,899,070.88. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 61,092 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,886,667.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 45,769 shares of company stock worth $14,509,306. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.