Caterpillar Inc. $CAT Shares Sold by Connors Investor Services Inc.

Key Points

• Connors Investor Services trimmed its Caterpillar stake by 8.1% in the fourth quarter, selling 2,239 shares and leaving it with 25,458 shares valued at about $14.6 million.
• Wall Street remains broadly upbeat on Caterpillar, with analysts assigning a Moderate Buy consensus and an average price target of $923.14 after several firms raised their targets.
• Caterpillar reported strong quarterly results, beating earnings and revenue estimates, while also paying a quarterly dividend of $1.51 per share and seeing notable insider selling during the period.

Connors Investor Services Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT - Free Report) by 8.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 25,458 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 2,239 shares during the period. Connors Investor Services Inc.'s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $14,578,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Torren Management LLC purchased a new stake in Caterpillar during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. IFS Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Caterpillar during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Rialto Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Caterpillar by 47.4% during the fourth quarter. Rialto Wealth Management LLC now owns 56 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Noble Wealth Management PBC lifted its stake in Caterpillar by 140.0% during the fourth quarter. Noble Wealth Management PBC now owns 60 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Burkett Financial Services LLC lifted its stake in Caterpillar by 82.9% during the third quarter. Burkett Financial Services LLC now owns 75 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CAT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $930.00 to $989.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. HSBC upped their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $850.00 to $1,100.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $769.00 to $879.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. DA Davidson raised their price objective on Caterpillar from $650.00 to $845.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group raised their price objective on Caterpillar from $790.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $923.14.

Caterpillar Trading Up 1.6%

Shares of NYSE CAT opened at $880.23 on Friday. Caterpillar Inc. has a one year low of $336.24 and a one year high of $931.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $405.42 billion, a PE ratio of 43.81, a PEG ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.63. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $791.73 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $690.84.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.54 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.65 by $0.89. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 48.21% and a net margin of 13.33%.The firm had revenue of $17.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.53 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $4.25 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 22.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 24.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 20th were issued a dividend of $1.51 per share. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 20th. Caterpillar's payout ratio is currently 30.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In other news, insider Lange Bob De sold 24,222 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $922.92, for a total transaction of $22,354,968.24. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 86,029 shares in the company, valued at $79,397,884.68. The trade was a 21.97% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 360 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $906.00, for a total value of $326,160.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 530 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $480,180. This represents a 40.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 100,551 shares of company stock worth $91,170,351 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Caterpillar News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Caterpillar this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Caterpillar’s Power & Energy business is being highlighted as a major growth opportunity, with rising backlog, capacity expansion, and demand from AI data centers supporting the company’s longer-term targets. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Separate coverage is reinforcing Caterpillar as a “power infrastructure play,” helped by a strategic framework agreement tied to up to 2.1 gigawatts of incremental power-generation assets, which suggests additional demand beyond its core construction and mining equipment businesses. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Caterpillar was also mentioned among the stocks helping drive a strong Dow rally, indicating broader investor demand for the name during today’s market advance. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Caterpillar was included in a hedge-fund stock screen, which may reflect institutional interest, but the item did not add a clear new catalyst by itself. Article Title

About Caterpillar

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.

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