Greenwood Gearhart LLC Reduces Position in Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Key Points

• Greenwood Gearhart LLC cut its Caterpillar stake by 37% in the first quarter, selling 12,627 shares and leaving it with 21,509 shares valued at about $15.2 million.
• Caterpillar continues to draw mixed but mostly constructive analyst attention. Several firms raised price targets, and the consensus rating remains “Moderate Buy” with an average target price of $980.57, though some analysts remain cautious on valuation.
• The company reported strong quarterly results and raised its dividend. Q1 EPS beat estimates at $5.54 on revenue of $17.41 billion, and Caterpillar lifted its quarterly dividend to $1.63 per share from $1.51.

Greenwood Gearhart LLC lowered its holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT - Free Report) by 37.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 21,509 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 12,627 shares during the period. Greenwood Gearhart LLC's holdings in Caterpillar were worth $15,238,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Lam Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Torren Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 220.0% in the fourth quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 48 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. IFS Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Caterpillar in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Rialto Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Caterpillar by 47.4% during the 4th quarter. Rialto Wealth Management LLC now owns 56 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. 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.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on CAT. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $1,043.00 to $1,218.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Wolfe Research increased their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $670.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. Morgan Stanley set a $915.00 price target on Caterpillar and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on Caterpillar from $650.00 to $845.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Caterpillar from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $980.57.

Caterpillar Trading Up 0.1%

Caterpillar stock opened at $881.26 on Monday. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1 year low of $405.46 and a 1 year high of $1,073.46. The firm's 50-day moving average is $931.29 and its 200-day moving average is $794.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 1.35. The company has a market cap of $405.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.87, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.57.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $17.41 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.53 billion. Caterpillar had a net margin of 13.33% and a return on equity of 48.21%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 22.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $4.25 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 24.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 20th will be paid a $1.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 20th. This is a positive change from Caterpillar's previous quarterly dividend of $1.51. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Caterpillar's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.06%.

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In other news, insider Denise C. Johnson sold 12,605 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $907.91, for a total transaction of $11,444,205.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 49,825 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $45,236,615.75. The trade was a 20.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Lange Bob De sold 24,222 shares of the 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 approximately $79,397,884.68. This trade represents a 21.97% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 95,773 shares of company stock valued at $87,642,635. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

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.

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