Ledyard National Bank Increases Stock Holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Ledyard National Bank raised its holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 3.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,467 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 55 shares during the quarter. Ledyard National Bank’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $361,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of CAT. BCK Partners Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the first quarter valued at $2,580,000. Sei Investments Co. raised its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 17.3% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 65,643 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $14,634,000 after purchasing an additional 9,695 shares during the last quarter. Dakota Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the first quarter worth about $405,000. Mather Group LLC. increased its holdings in Caterpillar by 6.8% in the 1st quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 2,592 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $577,000 after buying an additional 165 shares during the period. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its position in Caterpillar by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 49,705 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $11,075,000 after buying an additional 2,076 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.20% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Price Performance

Shares of CAT traded down $2.59 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $248.50. 575,334 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,056,717. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $260.65 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $252.04. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12-month low of $204.04 and a 12-month high of $293.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 1.45. The company has a market cap of $126.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.09.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $5.52 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.75 by $0.77. The business had revenue of $16.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.57 billion. Caterpillar had a net margin of 13.69% and a return on equity of 56.29%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.95 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 20.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 23rd will be given a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 20th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.09%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.46%.

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In other Caterpillar news, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 2,923 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.00, for a total value of $815,517.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 16,182 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,514,778. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on CAT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $315.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 16th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Caterpillar from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Tigress Financial raised their target price on Caterpillar from $282.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 8th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Caterpillar from $183.00 to $234.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Finally, Credit Suisse Group lifted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $279.00 to $334.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Caterpillar has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $267.68.

Caterpillar Company Profile

Caterpillar, Inc engages in the manufacture of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines, and diesel-electric locomotives. It operates through the following segments: Construction Industries, Resource Industries, Energy and Transportation, Financial Products, and All Other.