CHICAGO TRUST Co NA Grows Position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

CHICAGO TRUST Co NA lifted its holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 31.1% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 2,478 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 588 shares during the quarter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $908,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Waterway Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the fourth quarter valued at about $352,000. Farmers Trust Co. lifted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Farmers Trust Co. now owns 4,490 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,328,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Firethorn Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in Caterpillar by 19.4% in the fourth quarter. Firethorn Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,825 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $540,000 after acquiring an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Caterpillar by 20.0% in the fourth quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 21,343 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $6,310,000 after acquiring an additional 3,558 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Caterpillar by 7.8% during the fourth quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 1,074 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $318,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on CAT shares. HSBC lifted their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $330.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $293.00 to $350.00 in a research note on Friday, April 26th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Caterpillar from $338.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $385.00 to $435.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Caterpillar in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $327.13.

Caterpillar Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of CAT traded up $3.61 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $331.45. 1,141,234 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,666,069. Caterpillar Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $223.76 and a fifty-two week high of $382.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The business has a 50-day moving average of $343.31 and a 200-day moving average of $327.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $162.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.14.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $5.60 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.12 by $0.48. The business had revenue of $15.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.07 billion. Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.79% and a return on equity of 58.61%. On average, research analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.84 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 22nd will be issued a dividend of $1.41 per share. This is a boost from Caterpillar’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.70%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 22nd. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.48%.

Caterpillar announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, June 12th that allows the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the industrial products company to purchase up to 12.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In other Caterpillar news, insider Cheryl H. Johnson sold 1,508 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $340.00, for a total value of $512,720.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 20,023 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,807,820. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Caterpillar news, insider Lange Bob De sold 21,847 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $356.90, for a total value of $7,797,194.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 71,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,380,943.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Cheryl H. Johnson sold 1,508 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $340.00, for a total transaction of $512,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 20,023 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,807,820. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is owned by 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.