Banque Cantonale Vaudoise Buys 4,986 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise grew its holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT - Free Report) by 21.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 27,845 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 4,986 shares during the quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise's holdings in Caterpillar were worth $10,892,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in CAT. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Caterpillar by 2.6% during the third quarter. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC now owns 1,037 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $405,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the period. First Bank & Trust increased its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. First Bank & Trust now owns 709 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $277,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Washington Trust Bank lifted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Washington Trust Bank now owns 2,349 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $919,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares during the period. Pacifica Partners Inc. grew its holdings in Caterpillar by 1.6% in the third quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 1,807 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $707,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors increased its stake in Caterpillar by 0.8% in the third quarter. Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors now owns 3,466 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,356,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on CAT. UBS Group raised their target price on Caterpillar from $285.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Truist Financial upped their target price on Caterpillar from $399.00 to $456.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $299.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley cut shares of Caterpillar from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $349.00 to $332.00 in a report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered Caterpillar from an "in-line" rating to an "underperform" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $321.00 to $365.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $365.33.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

Caterpillar stock traded down $2.20 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $382.26. The stock had a trading volume of 1,793,165 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,605,757. The stock's 50 day moving average is $382.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $354.71. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1 year low of $241.81 and a 1 year high of $418.50. The stock has a market cap of $184.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.17 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.33 by ($0.16). The firm had revenue of $16.11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.37 billion. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 59.09% and a net margin of 16.26%. The firm's revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.52 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.68 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 21st will be issued a $1.41 dividend. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.48%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 21st. Caterpillar's payout ratio is currently 26.15%.

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In other news, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 968 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $380.98, for a total value of $368,788.64. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,686 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $642,332.28. This represents a 36.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Lange Bob De sold 12,657 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $410.25, for a total value of $5,192,534.25. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 71,107 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $29,171,646.75. The trade was a 15.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 23,749 shares of company stock worth $9,251,912. 0.29% of the stock is owned by company 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.