First Interstate Bank Trims Holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

First Interstate Bank lessened its holdings in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 18.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 746 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 168 shares during the period. First Interstate Bank’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $221,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Waterway Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Caterpillar during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $352,000. Farmers Trust Co. boosted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Farmers Trust Co. now owns 4,490 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,328,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Firethorn Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 19.4% in the 4th quarter. Firethorn Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,825 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $540,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 16.7% in the 3rd quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 367,655 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $100,370,000 after purchasing an additional 52,576 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 7.8% in the 4th quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 1,074 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $318,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on CAT shares. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Caterpillar from $300.00 to $338.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $216.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 21st. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $255.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $290.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $285.00 to $293.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $307.56.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Lange Bob De sold 21,194 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $325.52, for a total transaction of $6,899,070.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 61,092 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,886,667.84. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, insider Lange Bob De sold 21,194 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $325.52, for a total transaction of $6,899,070.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 61,092 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,886,667.84. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director David Maclennan acquired 350 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $323.37 per share, with a total value of $113,179.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,238 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,693,812.06. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 45,769 shares of company stock valued at $14,509,306 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Price Performance

NYSE CAT traded down $4.03 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $359.88. 2,514,069 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,095,585. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52-week low of $204.04 and a 52-week high of $382.01. The company has a market capitalization of $179.72 billion, a PE ratio of 17.86, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 0.87. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $344.54 and its 200-day moving average is $296.35.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The industrial products company reported $5.23 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $17.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.06 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.86 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 22nd will be paid a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 19th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.44%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.82%.

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.