WASHINGTON TRUST Co Increases Position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

WASHINGTON TRUST Co lifted its position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 22.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,274 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 797 shares during the period. WASHINGTON TRUST Co’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $1,264,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Caterpillar by 130,632.5% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 9,784,017 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,343,859,000 after purchasing an additional 9,776,533 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Caterpillar in the fourth quarter valued at $1,175,255,000. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board purchased a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the 1st quarter worth about $433,134,000. Imprint Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 24,982.9% during the 2nd quarter. Imprint Wealth LLC now owns 1,538,084 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $153,808,000 after acquiring an additional 1,531,952 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Winslow Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 2,265.3% during the 3rd quarter. Winslow Capital Management LLC now owns 1,117,830 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $305,168,000 after acquiring an additional 1,070,570 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on CAT. Truist Financial began coverage on shares of Caterpillar in a report on Thursday, March 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $390.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $255.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Caterpillar from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $285.00 to $293.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $345.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $297.89.

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In related news, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 4,575 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $329.80, for a total value of $1,508,835.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 23,474 shares in the company, valued at $7,741,725.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Caterpillar news, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 4,575 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $329.80, for a total transaction of $1,508,835.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 23,474 shares in the company, valued at $7,741,725.20. 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 stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.04, for a total transaction of $3,000,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 67,317 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,197,792.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 45,769 shares of company stock worth $14,509,306. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Stock Up 0.2 %

CAT traded up $0.88 during trading on Thursday, reaching $365.53. The company had a trading volume of 875,681 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,449,488. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 0.87. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12 month low of $204.04 and a 12 month high of $366.20. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $325.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $287.19. The company has a market cap of $182.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.11, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.16.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 5th. The industrial products company reported $5.23 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.76 by $0.47. Caterpillar had a net margin of 15.41% and a return on equity of 56.99%. The firm had revenue of $17.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.06 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.86 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.25 EPS for the current year.

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.