Argent Trust Co Raises Stock Holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Argent Trust Co boosted its position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT - Free Report) by 9.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 10,788 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 922 shares during the quarter. Argent Trust Co's holdings in Caterpillar were worth $3,913,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of CAT. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC purchased a new stake in Caterpillar in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new position in Caterpillar in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on CAT shares. Raymond James upgraded shares of Caterpillar from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $438.00 to $389.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. UBS Group raised Caterpillar from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $355.00 to $385.00 in a report on Monday, February 3rd. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on Caterpillar from $350.00 to $357.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $330.00 to $300.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Caterpillar presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $365.87.

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Insider Buying and Selling

In other Caterpillar news, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,425 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $354.70, for a total transaction of $860,147.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 6,275 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,225,742.50. The trade was a 27.87 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $380.09, for a total value of $3,800,900.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 45,182 shares in the company, valued at $17,173,226.38. This trade represents a 18.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.29% of the company's stock.

Caterpillar Trading Down 0.5 %

CAT traded down $1.37 on Tuesday, hitting $296.75. The company had a trading volume of 1,227,689 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,623,421. The company's fifty day moving average price is $332.75 and its 200 day moving average price is $366.35. The firm has a market cap of $141.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.45, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.21. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1 year low of $267.30 and a 1 year high of $418.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.97 by $0.17. Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.65% and a return on equity of 58.18%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 21st will be given a dividend of $1.41 per share. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 21st. Caterpillar's dividend payout ratio is presently 25.56%.

Caterpillar Company 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.