Ledyard National Bank Buys 10,913 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Ledyard National Bank boosted its position in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT - Free Report) by 754.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,360 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 10,913 shares during the period. Ledyard National Bank's holdings in Caterpillar were worth $3,654,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Gilfoyle & Co LLC acquired a new position in Caterpillar during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new position in Caterpillar in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in Caterpillar in the third quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Rational Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the third quarter worth $42,000. Finally, Milestone Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the third quarter worth $44,000. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on CAT shares. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Caterpillar from $255.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $210.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Oppenheimer restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Caterpillar in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Evercore ISI lowered shares of Caterpillar from an "outperform" rating to an "in-line" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $321.00 to $338.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Caterpillar from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $316.88.

Caterpillar Stock Up 1.9 %

CAT traded up $6.38 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $349.76. The company had a trading volume of 2,213,421 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,492,852. The company has a market capitalization of $174.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.69, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.17. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $350.10 and its 200 day moving average price is $301.19. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52 week low of $205.60 and a 52 week high of $382.01.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $5.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.12 by $0.48. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 58.61% and a net margin of 16.79%. The business had revenue of $15.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.07 billion. On average, research analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Investors of record on Monday, April 22nd will be issued a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 19th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.49%. Caterpillar's dividend payout ratio is presently 23.48%.

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In other news, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.10, for a total value of $3,101,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 57,317 shares of the company's stock, valued at $17,774,001.70. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, Director David Maclennan purchased 350 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $323.37 per share, for a total transaction of $113,179.50. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 5,238 shares in the company, valued at $1,693,812.06. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.10, for a total transaction of $3,101,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 57,317 shares of the company's stock, valued at $17,774,001.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 35,769 shares of company stock valued at $11,508,906. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Caterpillar 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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