Trust Co. of Vermont Trims Stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Trust Co. of Vermont lowered its holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 1.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,745 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 204 shares during the quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $4,985,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CAT. Aprio Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 9.0% in the first quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC now owns 884 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $324,000 after buying an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Fragasso Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 5.0% in the first quarter. Fragasso Group Inc. now owns 741 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $271,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. RFG Advisory LLC grew its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 5.1% in the first quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 6,783 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,485,000 after buying an additional 331 shares in the last quarter. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp grew its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 0.6% in the first quarter. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 21,116 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $7,738,000 after buying an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Optimum Investment Advisors grew its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 1.5% in the first quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors now owns 4,808 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,762,000 after buying an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE:CAT opened at $394.54 on Friday. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1 year low of $223.76 and a 1 year high of $403.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 1.28. The stock has a market cap of $192.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.10. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $362.75 and a 200-day simple moving average of $350.23.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The industrial products company reported $5.99 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.53 by $0.46. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 59.88% and a net margin of 16.58%. The company had revenue of $16.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.91 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $5.55 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 21st will be given a dividend of $1.41 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 21st. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.43%. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is 25.46%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on CAT. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on Caterpillar from $338.00 to $321.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Caterpillar from $399.00 to $456.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Caterpillar from $380.00 to $445.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Morgan Stanley cut Caterpillar from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $349.00 to $332.00 in a research note on Monday. Finally, Raymond James initiated coverage on Caterpillar in a research note on Friday, June 28th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $355.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Caterpillar news, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 3,185 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $351.36, for a total transaction of $1,119,081.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 33,442 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,750,181.12. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 3,185 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $351.36, for a total value of $1,119,081.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 33,442 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,750,181.12. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Cheryl H. Johnson sold 2,975 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $342.48, for a total value of $1,018,878.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,615 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,347,825.20. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.