Members Trust Co Purchases 109 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Members Trust Co grew its position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 1.0% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 11,449 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 109 shares during the period. Caterpillar comprises about 0.2% of Members Trust Co’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. Members Trust Co’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $4,445,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mid American Wealth Advisory Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Family Legacy Financial Solutions LLC bought a new position in Caterpillar in the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,000. Harbor Asset Planning Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the second quarter worth approximately $34,000. Compass Financial Services Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 49.2% during the first quarter. Compass Financial Services Inc now owns 94 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the period. Finally, Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the first quarter worth approximately $33,000. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Caterpillar from $517.00 to $594.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Caterpillar from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $476.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $505.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $540.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Melius upgraded shares of Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $500.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $515.40.

Caterpillar Stock Down 1.2%

CAT opened at $524.95 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The company’s 50-day moving average is $458.10 and its 200 day moving average is $394.14. Caterpillar Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $267.30 and a fifty-two week high of $544.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $245.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.70, a PEG ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 1.46.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The industrial products company reported $4.72 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.88 by ($0.16). Caterpillar had a net margin of 14.95% and a return on equity of 48.95%. The firm had revenue of $16.57 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $5.99 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 20th. Investors of record on Monday, October 20th will be issued a dividend of $1.51 per share. This represents a $6.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 20th. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.72%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Chairman Donald J. Umpleby III sold 17,166 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $505.29, for a total transaction of $8,673,808.14. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman owned 448,173 shares in the company, valued at approximately $226,457,335.17. This trade represents a 3.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,161 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.70, for a total transaction of $902,649.70. Following the sale, the insider owned 8,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,605,586.40. This trade represents a 20.02% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 55,985 shares of company stock worth $25,559,300. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

About Caterpillar

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.