Caterpillar Inc. $CAT Shares Bought by Legal & General Group Plc

Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,802,068 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 58,993 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.60% of Caterpillar worth $1,337,007,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Kilter Group LLC purchased a new stake in Caterpillar during the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Caterpillar by 1,060.0% during the 3rd quarter. Marquette Asset Management LLC now owns 58 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. RiverPark Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the second quarter valued at $32,000. Joseph Group Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the third quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 107.0% during the second quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 89 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on CAT shares. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $678.00 price objective on shares of Caterpillar in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Barclays lifted their target price on Caterpillar from $610.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Wolfe Research raised their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $470.00 to $670.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 2nd. Robert W. Baird set a $805.00 price objective on shares of Caterpillar in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $677.00 target price on shares of Caterpillar in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $726.00.

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In other Caterpillar news, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 972 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $764.20, for a total transaction of $742,802.40. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 824 shares in the company, valued at $629,700.80. This trade represents a 54.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 7,891 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $776.90, for a total transaction of $6,130,517.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 46,643 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,236,946.70. This represents a 14.47% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 135,950 shares of company stock worth $94,327,990 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Price Performance

NYSE CAT opened at $704.10 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $327.61 billion, a PE ratio of 37.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.53. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12-month low of $267.30 and a 12-month high of $789.81. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $683.98 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $578.41.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The industrial products company reported $5.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.67 by $0.49. Caterpillar had a net margin of 13.14% and a return on equity of 45.76%. The business had revenue of $19.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.81 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $5.14 EPS. Caterpillar’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 19th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 20th were given a $1.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, January 20th. This represents a $6.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is currently 32.09%.

Trending Headlines about Caterpillar

Here are the key news stories impacting Caterpillar this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Multiple analyst price?target raises lift the outlook and signal upside potential; Citigroup bumped its target to $785 and reiterated a Buy rating, implying further upside from current levels. Article Title MarketScreener
• Positive Sentiment: Additional published price?target increases (to $817 and $825) further underpin analyst confidence and provide explicit upside benchmarks for investors. Price Target $817 Price Target $825
• Positive Sentiment: Product and tech innovation headlines — including a new heavy electric?drive dozer and AI/autonomous jobsite showcases at CONEXPO — support a re?rating toward higher valuation multiples if execution and adoption continue. Electric Dozer AI Jobsite Tech
• Positive Sentiment: Positive media/analyst features (Zacks, Motley Fool) frame CAT as a long?term favorite and list reasons to buy, reinforcing investor interest and momentum narratives. Zacks Fool
• Neutral Sentiment: Forbes highlights a short?term pullback from recent highs and debates buy?the?dip vs. profit?taking; useful for traders weighing entry timing but not a change to the company’s fundamentals. Forbes
• Neutral Sentiment: Zacks Market Edge highlighted Caterpillar among notable names — additional visibility but no new company guidance reported. Zacks Market Edge
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: the CEO sold about $1.8M of stock; outlets note this activity and it has prompted intraday weakness in some reports — a potential near?term headwind for sentiment. Insider Sale Trading Down Article

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.