Hills Bank & Trust Co Has $570,000 Holdings in Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Hills Bank & Trust Co increased its stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 17.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,467 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 218 shares during the period. Hills Bank & Trust Co’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $570,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Caterpillar by 36,842.1% in the 2nd quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,299,751 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,833,836,000 after purchasing an additional 7,279,991 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its stake in Caterpillar by 6.7% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 4,204,445 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,386,626,000 after purchasing an additional 264,054 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Caterpillar by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,304,448 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,089,798,000 after purchasing an additional 15,347 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in Caterpillar by 9.1% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,229,080 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,064,951,000 after purchasing an additional 268,300 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Caterpillar by 5.0% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,141,936 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,036,211,000 after purchasing an additional 150,533 shares during the period. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CAT has been the topic of several analyst reports. Evercore ISI raised shares of Caterpillar from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $476.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Royal Bank Of Canada initiated coverage on shares of Caterpillar in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $560.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $570.00 to $670.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $485.00 to $555.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Caterpillar in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $568.50.

Caterpillar Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of CAT stock opened at $578.28 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 1.38. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $478.42 and its 200-day moving average is $409.18. The stock has a market cap of $270.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.69, a PEG ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 1.46. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52-week low of $267.30 and a 52-week high of $596.21.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $4.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.52 by $0.43. The company had revenue of $17.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.72 billion. Caterpillar had a net margin of 14.34% and a return on equity of 47.16%. Caterpillar’s quarterly revenue was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.17 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 20th will be issued a $1.51 dividend. This represents a $6.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 20th. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.01%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Susan C. Schwab sold 2,324 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $410.00, for a total value of $952,840.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 6,917 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,835,970. This represents a 25.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,161 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.70, for a total transaction of $902,649.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 8,632 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,605,586.40. This represents a 20.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 55,985 shares of company stock valued at $25,559,300. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.