Welch & Forbes LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Welch & Forbes LLC lessened its holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 2.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 24,774 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 511 shares during the period. Welch & Forbes LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $7,325,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. WealthShield Partners LLC lifted its position in Caterpillar by 16.5% during the third quarter. WealthShield Partners LLC now owns 1,449 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $396,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 20.9% during the 3rd quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,223 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,153,000 after buying an additional 730 shares in the last quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 56.5% during the 3rd quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,651 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $451,000 after acquiring an additional 596 shares during the period. Baystate Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Caterpillar by 19.8% in the 3rd quarter. Baystate Wealth Management LLC now owns 878 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $240,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NBT Bank N A NY raised its stake in Caterpillar by 61.4% during the 3rd quarter. NBT Bank N A NY now owns 34,943 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $9,539,000 after acquiring an additional 13,287 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In other Caterpillar news, Director David Maclennan purchased 500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $337.39 per share, with a total value of $168,695.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 5,738 shares in the company, valued at $1,935,943.82. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, Director David Maclennan bought 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $337.39 per share, with a total value of $168,695.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 5,738 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,935,943.82. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 4,575 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $329.80, for a total value of $1,508,835.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 23,474 shares in the company, valued at $7,741,725.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Caterpillar Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of CAT stock traded up $2.90 on Tuesday, reaching $345.00. 1,943,358 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,503,008. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $352.57 and its 200 day simple moving average is $304.94. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52 week low of $205.60 and a 52 week high of $382.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $168.72 billion, a PE ratio of 15.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.19.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $5.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.12 by $0.48. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 58.61% and a net margin of 16.79%. The company had revenue of $15.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.07 billion. As a group, analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.79 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 22nd will be issued a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 19th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.51%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.48%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on CAT. Truist Financial initiated coverage on shares of Caterpillar in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $390.00 price objective for the company. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Caterpillar from $210.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Evercore ISI lowered Caterpillar from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $321.00 to $338.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Caterpillar from $338.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Oppenheimer restated 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, ten have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Caterpillar presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $323.35.

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.