First County Bank CT Reduces Position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

First County Bank CT trimmed its position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 28.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. 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 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

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

Caterpillar Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CAT traded down $0.53 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $363.67. 760,964 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,375,969. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $383.90 and a 200-day simple moving average of $364.82. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52-week low of $276.94 and a 52-week high of $418.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $175.58 billion, a PE ratio of 16.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33.

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

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In other Caterpillar news, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 968 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $380.98, for a total transaction of $368,788.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,686 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $642,332.28. The trade was a 36.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Lange Bob De sold 12,657 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $410.25, for a total value of $5,192,534.25. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 71,107 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,171,646.75. The trade was a 15.11 % 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 worth $9,679,489 in the last three months. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $454.00 to $471.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Morgan Stanley downgraded Caterpillar from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $349.00 to $332.00 in a report on Monday, October 14th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Caterpillar from $455.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Evercore ISI cut Caterpillar from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $321.00 to $365.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $285.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $384.33.

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.