Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) Position Lifted by WASHINGTON TRUST Co

WASHINGTON TRUST Co raised its stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 22.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 4,274 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 797 shares during the quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $1,264,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of CAT. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in Caterpillar by 272.4% during the 1st quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 108 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the period. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC lifted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. First Capital Advisors Group LLC. acquired a new stake in Caterpillar in the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. CGC Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in Caterpillar in the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, SkyView Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Caterpillar in the first quarter valued at approximately $35,000. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Caterpillar Trading Up 0.2 %

CAT stock traded up $0.88 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $365.53. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 875,681 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,449,488. The company has a market cap of $182.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.16. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $325.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $287.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12 month low of $204.04 and a 12 month high of $366.20.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The industrial products company reported $5.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.76 by $0.47. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 56.99% and a net margin of 15.41%. The business had revenue of $17.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.06 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.86 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.25 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

CAT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $216.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 21st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $285.00 to $293.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 19th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $210.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Evercore ISI lowered shares of Caterpillar from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $321.00 to $338.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $290.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $297.89.

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.