Caterpillar Inc. $CAT Shares Sold by Peoples Financial Services CORP.

Peoples Financial Services CORP. lessened its stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 21.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,202 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 598 shares during the period. Peoples Financial Services CORP.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $855,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Family Legacy Financial Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. Compass Financial Services Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 49.2% in the first quarter. Compass Financial Services Inc now owns 94 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Curat Global LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the first quarter valued at $33,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the first quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Maseco LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the second quarter valued at $45,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CAT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Caterpillar in a report on Monday, July 14th. Barclays increased their target price on Caterpillar from $383.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Melius upgraded Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $500.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $331.00 to $388.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Melius Research raised shares of Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $500.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $464.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Caterpillar news, Director Susan C. Schwab sold 2,324 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $410.00, for a total transaction of $952,840.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 6,917 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,835,970. This represents a 25.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Donald J. Umpleby III sold 17,168 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $412.87, for a total transaction of $7,088,152.16. Following the transaction, the chairman directly owned 482,505 shares in the company, valued at $199,211,839.35. The trade was a 3.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 38,819 shares of company stock valued at $16,885,492 over the last three months. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Caterpillar Trading Up 0.5%

Caterpillar stock opened at $466.06 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The company has a market capitalization of $218.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.71, a PEG ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.41. Caterpillar Inc. has a one year low of $267.30 and a one year high of $485.34. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $430.98 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $373.99.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The industrial products company reported $4.72 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.88 by ($0.16). The business had revenue of $16.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.14 billion. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 48.95% and a net margin of 14.95%.The company’s quarterly revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $5.99 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Caterpillar

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.