Legal & General Group Plc Cuts Position in Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Key Points

• Legal & General Group Plc trimmed its Caterpillar stake by 2.9% in the fourth quarter, selling 81,760 shares and leaving it with 2.72 million shares valued at about $1.56 billion.
• Caterpillar delivered strong quarterly results, reporting EPS of $5.54 and revenue of $17.42 billion, both above analyst expectations. Revenue rose 22.2% year over year, and the company also posted a strong return on equity of 48.21%.
• Analysts remain broadly positive on CAT, with several firms lifting price targets and the stock carrying a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating. The article also highlights growing optimism around Caterpillar’s Power & Energy segment, especially demand tied to AI data centers and power infrastructure.

Legal & General Group Plc decreased its holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT - Free Report) by 2.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,720,308 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 81,760 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned about 0.58% of Caterpillar worth $1,558,383,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its position in Caterpillar by 7.3% in the third quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 17,262 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $8,237,000 after acquiring an additional 1,181 shares in the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC purchased a new position in Caterpillar in the third quarter worth $8,893,000. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D raised its position 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 acquiring an additional 4,010 shares in the last quarter. Juno Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Caterpillar in the fourth quarter worth $877,000. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC raised its position 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 acquiring an additional 2,565 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% 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

Caterpillar Stock Up 0.0%

CAT opened at $880.23 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The firm has a market cap of $405.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.81, a PEG ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.63. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52 week low of $336.24 and a 52 week high of $931.35. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $791.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $691.69.

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

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on CAT shares. HSBC raised their price target on Caterpillar from $850.00 to $1,100.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on Caterpillar from $587.00 to $658.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Bank of America raised their price target on Caterpillar from $930.00 to $989.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Evercore restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $1,103.00 price target on shares of Caterpillar in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $915.00 price target on Caterpillar and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $923.14.

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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