Caterpillar Inc. $CAT Shares Purchased by California Public Employees Retirement System

California Public Employees Retirement System raised its stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 0.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 879,849 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,361 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned approximately 0.19% of Caterpillar worth $623,338,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Diamant Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 68,427.2% during the first quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,140,603 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,224,992,000 after buying an additional 3,136,020 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,225,317,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its position in Caterpillar by 573.1% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,504,612 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $861,947,000 after acquiring an additional 1,281,087 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in Caterpillar by 16.0% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 6,738,802 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,860,457,000 after acquiring an additional 928,974 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cynosure Group LLC grew its stake in Caterpillar by 8,359.6% in the 4th quarter. Cynosure Group LLC now owns 513,754 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $294,314,000 after acquiring an additional 507,681 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Caterpillar

Here are the key news stories impacting Caterpillar this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Multiple analyst updates turned incrementally more optimistic on Caterpillar’s earnings outlook, with Erste Group Bank and Zacks Research lifting FY2026, FY2027, FY2028 and several quarterly EPS estimates. Higher profit expectations can support the stock by reinforcing the view that CAT’s long-term demand and pricing power remain solid.
• Positive Sentiment: Several commentary pieces highlighted Caterpillar as a leading industrial and equipment name versus peers like Volvo, citing stronger earnings momentum, rising estimates, and long-term growth tied to infrastructure, electrification, automation, and AI data-center buildout demand.
• Neutral Sentiment: Pre-earnings coverage noted Wall Street is expecting Caterpillar’s upcoming Q2 2026 report to show another double-digit profit increase, which keeps investor attention focused on whether results can justify the stock’s premium valuation.
• Neutral Sentiment: Several articles framed Caterpillar as a high-quality company with a strong brand and global dealer network, but also warned that the valuation looks rich. That limits near-term upside unless earnings growth continues to outpace expectations.
• Negative Sentiment: Caterpillar was also mentioned in broader market weakness and “AI selloff” coverage, and Zacks Research downgraded the stock from strong-buy to hold. That suggests some investors are becoming more cautious after the recent run-up.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CAT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on Caterpillar from $769.00 to $879.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley set a $915.00 target price on Caterpillar and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Bank of America increased their target price on Caterpillar from $930.00 to $989.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Daiwa Securities Group raised their price target on Caterpillar from $790.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $1,020.00 to $1,100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $980.57.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 16,283 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $916.80, for a total value of $14,928,254.40. Following the transaction, the insider owned 46,041 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,210,388.80. This trade represents a 26.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 15,674 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $918.71, for a total transaction of $14,399,860.54. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 52,935 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,631,913.85. This trade represents a 22.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 95,773 shares of company stock worth $87,642,635. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Trading Up 0.5%

CAT stock opened at $881.26 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The company has a market cap of $405.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.87, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.57. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $931.29 and a 200-day simple moving average of $793.45. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52 week low of $405.46 and a 52 week high of $1,073.46.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.65 by $0.89. The firm had revenue of $17.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.53 billion. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 48.21% and a net margin of 13.33%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $4.25 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 24.87 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 20th will be issued a dividend of $1.63 per share. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 20th. This is an increase from Caterpillar’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.51. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.06%.

Caterpillar Profile

Caterpillar Inc is a global manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines and locomotives. The company’s product portfolio includes earthmoving machines such as excavators, bulldozers, wheel loaders and off‑highway trucks, as well as a range of power generation products including generator sets and power systems for industrial and commercial use. Caterpillar serves customers across heavy construction, mining, energy, transportation and related industries with both equipment and integrated technology solutions.

In addition to manufacturing, Caterpillar provides a broad range of aftermarket parts and support services, including maintenance, repair, remanufacturing and fleet management tools.