First Bank & Trust Buys 27 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

First Bank & Trust grew its stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 4.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 709 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 27 shares during the quarter. First Bank & Trust’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $277,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Fairman Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the 1st quarter valued at $29,000. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Fairscale Capital LLC bought a new stake in Caterpillar during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, POM Investment Strategies LLC lifted its stake in Caterpillar by 2,160.0% in the second quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 113 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on CAT. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley cut Caterpillar from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $349.00 to $332.00 in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on Caterpillar from $338.00 to $321.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Bank of America upped their price target on Caterpillar from $376.00 to $434.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Caterpillar presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $355.50.

Caterpillar Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of CAT stock opened at $385.97 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $188.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.10. Caterpillar Inc. has a twelve month low of $223.76 and a twelve month high of $403.60. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $368.57 and its 200 day simple moving average is $350.95.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The industrial products company reported $5.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.53 by $0.46. The company had revenue of $16.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.91 billion. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 59.88% and a net margin of 16.58%. The firm’s revenue was down 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $5.55 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 21st will be issued a dividend of $1.41 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 21st. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.46%. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is 25.46%.

Insider Transactions at Caterpillar

In related news, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 3,185 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $351.36, for a total value of $1,119,081.60. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 33,442 shares in the company, valued at $11,750,181.12. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Caterpillar news, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 3,185 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $351.36, for a total value of $1,119,081.60. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 33,442 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,750,181.12. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gerald Johnson purchased 100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $338.59 per share, for a total transaction of $33,859.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 2,842 shares in the company, valued at approximately $962,272.78. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.