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

Trust Co. of Vermont cut its holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 3.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 12,291 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 454 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Vermont’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $4,459,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Seven Eight Capital LP purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the second quarter worth about $523,000. ProVise Management Group LLC increased its position in Caterpillar by 36.7% during the second quarter. ProVise Management Group LLC now owns 1,208 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $402,000 after buying an additional 324 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in Caterpillar by 2.5% in the second quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,535 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,177,000 after buying an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 11.6% in the second quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 23,642 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $7,875,000 after acquiring an additional 2,462 shares during the period. Finally, Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 10.5% in the 2nd quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 27,695 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $9,225,000 after acquiring an additional 2,627 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Stock Up 1.4 %

Caterpillar stock traded up $5.48 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $386.03. The stock had a trading volume of 2,596,820 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,595,788. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $380.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $366.76. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12 month low of $277.66 and a 12 month high of $418.50. The stock has a market cap of $186.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.13. 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 (NYSE:CAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.33 by ($0.16). The company had revenue of $16.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.37 billion. Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.26% and a return on equity of 59.09%. The company’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 firm earned $5.52 EPS. Research analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.68 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be issued a $1.41 dividend. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 21st. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Caterpillar news, insider Cheryl H. Johnson sold 2,664 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $378.84, for a total transaction of $1,009,229.76. Following the sale, the insider now owns 12,951 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,906,356.84. The trade was a 17.06 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,686 shares in the company, valued at approximately $642,332.28. This trade represents a 36.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 33,868 shares of company stock valued at $13,480,389 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on CAT. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Caterpillar from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $349.00 to $332.00 in a research note on Monday, October 14th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $285.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Caterpillar from $460.00 to $420.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on Caterpillar from $376.00 to $434.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Caterpillar presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $380.60.

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.