Eagle Bay Advisors LLC Lowers Stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Eagle Bay Advisors LLC decreased its stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 33.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 484 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 239 shares during the period. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $161,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Private Trust Co. NA grew its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 0.3% in the first quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 10,695 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,919,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Southland Equity Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 4.0% in the first quarter. Southland Equity Partners LLC now owns 784 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $287,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Davis Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 2.1% in the first quarter. Davis Investment Partners LLC now owns 1,454 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $541,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Hilltop National Bank grew its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 1.2% in the second quarter. Hilltop National Bank now owns 2,636 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $878,000 after buying an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Exchange Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 3.3% in the first quarter. Exchange Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,016 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $372,000 after buying an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In other Caterpillar news, insider Cheryl H. Johnson sold 1,508 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $340.00, for a total transaction of $512,720.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 20,023 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,807,820. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Caterpillar news, insider Cheryl H. Johnson sold 1,508 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $340.00, for a total transaction of $512,720.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 20,023 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,807,820. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Cheryl H. Johnson sold 2,975 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $342.48, for a total value of $1,018,878.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,615 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,347,825.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 5,991 shares of company stock valued at $2,059,398 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on CAT. StockNews.com upgraded Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 10th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $399.00 price objective (up previously from $390.00) on shares of Caterpillar in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on Caterpillar from $385.00 to $376.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Citigroup began coverage on Caterpillar in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. They set a “buy” rating and a $380.00 price objective for the company. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Caterpillar from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $336.31.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CAT traded up $0.07 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $351.23. The company had a trading volume of 1,210,755 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,691,051. The stock has a market cap of $171.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.86, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.12. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12 month low of $223.76 and a 12 month high of $382.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $337.36 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $342.20.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The industrial products company reported $5.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.53 by $0.46. The business had revenue of $16.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.91 billion. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 58.61% and a net margin of 16.79%. The business’s revenue was down 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $5.55 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, June 12th that permits the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the industrial products company to purchase up to 12.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Caterpillar Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 22nd were paid a dividend of $1.41 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 22nd. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.61%. This is an increase from Caterpillar’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is presently 25.46%.

Caterpillar 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.