Adirondack Trust Co. Lowers Stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Adirondack Trust Co. decreased its position in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 1.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 8,087 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 148 shares during the quarter. Caterpillar comprises 1.1% of Adirondack Trust Co.’s holdings, making the stock its 21st biggest position. Adirondack Trust Co.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $2,934,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 635,750 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $231,686,000 after acquiring an additional 10,212 shares during the period. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC raised its stake in 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 boosted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $5,437,000 after purchasing an additional 4,181 shares during the last quarter. Cadinha & Co. LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the 4th quarter valued at $11,084,000. Finally, First Affirmative Financial Network acquired a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the 3rd quarter worth $204,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on CAT shares. StockNews.com downgraded Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $376.00 to $434.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $455.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $299.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Caterpillar from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Caterpillar currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $380.60.

Caterpillar Price Performance

CAT opened at $397.68 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1 year low of $287.52 and a 1 year high of $418.50. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $379.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $368.17. The stock has a market cap of $192.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.44, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.13.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.17 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.33 by ($0.16). The business had revenue of $16.11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.37 billion. Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.26% and a return on equity of 59.09%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $5.52 EPS. Analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be paid a $1.41 dividend. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 21st. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is 26.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Caterpillar news, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 968 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $380.98, for a total transaction of $368,788.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,686 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $642,332.28. The trade was a 36.47 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $380.09, for a total value of $3,800,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 45,182 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,173,226.38. This represents a 18.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 33,868 shares of company stock worth $13,480,389. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.