RNC Capital Management LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

RNC Capital Management LLC lowered its position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,476 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 40 shares during the quarter. RNC Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $732,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Waterway Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Caterpillar in the fourth quarter valued at about $352,000. Farmers Trust Co. lifted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 2.7% during the fourth 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. Panagora Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 16.7% during the third 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. Rise Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 7.8% during the fourth 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. Finally, Eagle Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 176.9% during the third quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 27,357 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $7,468,000 after purchasing an additional 17,478 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In other news, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.04, for a total value of $3,000,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 67,317 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,197,792.68. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.04, for a total value of $3,000,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 67,317 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,197,792.68. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Lange Bob De sold 21,194 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $325.52, for a total value of $6,899,070.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 61,092 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,886,667.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 45,769 shares of company stock valued at $14,509,306 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $285.00 to $293.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased 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. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $300.00 to $338.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $210.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $274.00 to $357.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $297.89.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

NYSE CAT opened at $364.65 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $182.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.16. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1-year low of $204.04 and a 1-year high of $365.52. 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 business’s 50-day simple moving average is $325.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $287.19.

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

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.