Choate Investment Advisors Sells 1,636 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Key Points

• Choate Investment Advisors reduced its Caterpillar stake by 14.9% in the fourth quarter, selling 1,636 shares and leaving it with 9,360 shares worth about $5.36 million.
• Insider selling has also been notable: Caterpillar’s CFO and CAO recently sold shares, and insiders sold a total of 98,273 shares over the last three months, though insiders still own only 0.33% of the stock.
• Despite the selling, Caterpillar has strong operating momentum, with its latest quarter beating earnings and revenue estimates and analysts maintaining a Moderate Buy outlook with an average price target of $923.14.

Choate Investment Advisors lessened its holdings in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT - Free Report) by 14.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,360 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 1,636 shares during the quarter. Choate Investment Advisors' holdings in Caterpillar were worth $5,362,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 7.3% during the third quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 17,262 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $8,237,000 after acquiring an additional 1,181 shares in the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the third quarter valued at approximately $8,893,000. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D grew its stake in Caterpillar by 2.5% in the third quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 165,677 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $79,053,000 after purchasing an additional 4,010 shares during the period. Juno Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Caterpillar in the fourth quarter worth $877,000. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its stake in Caterpillar by 3.6% in the third quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 73,363 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $35,023,000 after purchasing an additional 2,565 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In related news, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 360 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $906.00, for a total transaction of $326,160.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 530 shares of the company's stock, valued at $480,180. This trade represents a 40.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 15,674 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $918.71, for a total value of $14,399,860.54. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 52,935 shares in the company, valued at $48,631,913.85. This trade represents a 22.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 98,273 shares of company stock valued at $89,439,960 over the last three months. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Key Caterpillar News

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

Caterpillar Trading Up 0.0%

Caterpillar stock opened at $880.23 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 0.81. Caterpillar Inc. has a one year low of $336.24 and a one year high of $931.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $405.42 billion, a PE ratio of 43.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.63. The business's fifty day moving average is $791.73 and its 200 day moving average is $691.69.

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

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 19th. Investors of record on Monday, April 20th were given a dividend of $1.51 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 20th. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Caterpillar's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.06%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CAT has been the topic of several recent research reports. HSBC upped their price target on Caterpillar from $850.00 to $1,100.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Citigroup upped their price target on Caterpillar from $905.00 to $1,020.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein upped 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. Williams Trading set a $825.00 price target on Caterpillar in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $677.00 price target on shares of Caterpillar in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $923.14.

Caterpillar Company 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.

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