Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) Shares Sold by Farmers Trust Co.

Farmers Trust Co. lessened its position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 1.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 4,576 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 60 shares during the quarter. Farmers Trust Co.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $1,660,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of CAT. Lantz Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 2.9% in the second quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 4,181 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,393,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC raised its holdings in Caterpillar by 28,321.2% in the second quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 200,654 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $668,000 after acquiring an additional 199,948 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Caterpillar by 4.9% in the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 9,483 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,157,000 after acquiring an additional 446 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $729,000. Finally, PFG Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 5,187 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,728,000 after purchasing an additional 229 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CAT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 1st. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $455.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $435.00 to $460.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Caterpillar from $299.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered Caterpillar from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $321.00 to $365.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $384.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Caterpillar news, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 968 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $380.98, for a total value of $368,788.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,686 shares in the company, valued at $642,332.28. The trade was a 36.47 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Gerald Johnson bought 100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $398.57 per share, for a total transaction of $39,857.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,953 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,176,977.21. The trade was a 3.51 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 23,868 shares of company stock valued at $9,679,489. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Price Performance

Caterpillar stock traded down $2.51 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $360.49. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,234,398 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,518,635. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.40. Caterpillar Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $276.94 and a fifty-two week high of $418.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $174.05 billion, a PE ratio of 16.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.13. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $383.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $365.06.

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

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be paid a dividend of $1.41 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 21st. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.56%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.15%.

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.