First County Bank CT Cuts Stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

First County Bank CT trimmed its holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 28.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 3,025 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,190 shares during the quarter. First County Bank CT’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $1,097,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC grew its stake in Caterpillar by 5.6% during the third quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC now owns 116,566 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $45,591,000 after acquiring an additional 6,212 shares in the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI grew its position in shares of Caterpillar by 43.0% during the third quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 13,902 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,437,000 after purchasing an additional 4,181 shares in the last quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the third quarter worth about $204,000. Inspire Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 25.8% in the third quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 8,266 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,233,000 after buying an additional 1,694 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jackson Square Capital LLC boosted its stake in Caterpillar by 33.7% during the third quarter. Jackson Square Capital LLC now owns 16,581 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $6,485,000 after buying an additional 4,182 shares during the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Caterpillar Trading Down 0.1 %

CAT traded down $0.53 on Tuesday, reaching $363.67. 760,964 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,375,969. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33. The company has a market cap of $175.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.13. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $383.90 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $364.82. Caterpillar Inc. has a one year low of $276.94 and a one year high of $418.50.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.33 by ($0.16). The firm had revenue of $16.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.37 billion. Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.26% and a return on equity of 59.09%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.52 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be paid a dividend of $1.41 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 21st. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.55%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Caterpillar news, insider Lange Bob De sold 12,657 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $410.25, for a total transaction of $5,192,534.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 71,107 shares in the company, valued at $29,171,646.75. This represents a 15.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Cheryl H. Johnson sold 2,664 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $378.84, for a total value of $1,009,229.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 12,951 shares in the company, valued at $4,906,356.84. This represents a 17.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 23,868 shares of company stock valued at $9,679,489 over the last three months. 0.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Evercore ISI lowered shares of Caterpillar from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $321.00 to $365.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com raised shares of Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 1st. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Caterpillar from $454.00 to $471.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Caterpillar from $299.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $384.33.

Caterpillar Company 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.