First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. Sells 327 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. cut its holdings in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 8.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,333 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 327 shares during the period. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $1,294,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CAT. Aire Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Caterpillar by 0.3% in the second quarter. Aire Advisors LLC now owns 9,042 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,510,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Dumont & Blake Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Caterpillar by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Dumont & Blake Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,954 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,923,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. GSB Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Caterpillar by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. GSB Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,143 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $832,000 after buying an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Verum Partners LLC increased its position in Caterpillar by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. Verum Partners LLC now owns 1,059 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $411,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 0.8% during the second quarter. Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors now owns 3,575 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,388,000 after buying an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Chairman Donald J. Umpleby III sold 17,168 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $412.87, for a total transaction of $7,088,152.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman directly owned 482,505 shares in the company, valued at approximately $199,211,839.35. This represents a 3.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,161 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.70, for a total value of $902,649.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 8,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,605,586.40. The trade was a 20.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 55,985 shares of company stock worth $25,559,300 in the last three months. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on CAT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $505.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Erste Group Bank upgraded Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Caterpillar in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on Caterpillar from $447.00 to $502.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $518.19.

Caterpillar Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of CAT opened at $522.13 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 1.34. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52-week low of $267.30 and a 52-week high of $544.99. The firm has a market cap of $244.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.56, a PEG ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 1.46. The business’s fifty day moving average is $464.46 and its 200-day moving average is $398.36.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The industrial products company reported $4.72 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.88 by ($0.16). The business had revenue of $16.57 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.14 billion. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 48.95% and a net margin of 14.95%.During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $5.99 earnings per share. Caterpillar’s quarterly revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 20th will be paid a $1.51 dividend. This represents a $6.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 20th. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.72%.

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.