Truist Financial Corp Decreases Stake in Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Key Points

• Truist Financial Corp reduced its stake in Caterpillar Inc. by 1.8% in the second quarter, owning 212,231 shares valued at approximately $82.39 million after selling 3,832 shares.
• Caterpillar's stock price recently saw significant analyst upgrades, with Barclays raising its target from $383 to $425 and Evercore ISI setting a target of $476 after upgrading the stock to "outperform."
• Caterpillar reported earnings of $4.72 per share for the last quarter, missing analyst estimates, with a total revenue of $16.57 billion, slightly above expectations but down 0.7% year-over-year.

Truist Financial Corp lessened its stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT - Free Report) by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 212,231 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 3,832 shares during the quarter. Truist Financial Corp's holdings in Caterpillar were worth $82,390,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in CAT. Pacific Point Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the 4th quarter valued at about $579,000. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in Caterpillar by 51.5% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,409 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,688,000 after purchasing an additional 2,519 shares during the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Caterpillar by 5.9% during the first quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 21,373 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $7,049,000 after purchasing an additional 1,195 shares during the last quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in Caterpillar by 11.9% during the first quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC now owns 801 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $264,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fulton Bank N.A. lifted its stake in Caterpillar by 3.3% during the first quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 3,525 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,163,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Chairman Donald J. Umpleby III sold 17,168 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $412.87, for a total transaction of $7,088,152.16. Following the transaction, the chairman owned 482,505 shares of the company's stock, valued at $199,211,839.35. This represents a 3.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,161 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.70, for a total value of $902,649.70. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 8,632 shares in the company, valued at $3,605,586.40. This represents a 20.02% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 38,819 shares of company stock valued at $16,885,492 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CAT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays boosted their target price on Caterpillar from $383.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Evercore ISI upgraded Caterpillar from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $476.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Melius upgraded Caterpillar from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $500.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Caterpillar in a research report on Tuesday, September 23rd. Finally, Melius Research raised Caterpillar from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and set a $500.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $466.53.

Caterpillar Trading Up 0.8%

NYSE:CAT opened at $480.99 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $225.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.47, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $434.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $376.35. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12-month low of $267.30 and a 12-month high of $485.34.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The industrial products company reported $4.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $4.88 by ($0.16). The company had revenue of $16.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.14 billion. Caterpillar had a net margin of 14.95% and a return on equity of 48.95%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.99 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Company 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.

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