Vestcor Inc Sells 4,433 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Vestcor Inc decreased its position in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 24.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 13,549 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 4,433 shares during the period. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $6,465,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in CAT. WealthShield Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. WealthShield Partners LLC now owns 1,122 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $535,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. one8zero8 LLC grew its holdings in Caterpillar by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. one8zero8 LLC now owns 619 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $295,000 after buying an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. increased its position in Caterpillar by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. now owns 3,214 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,534,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Cyr Financial Inc. increased its position in Caterpillar by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Cyr Financial Inc. now owns 811 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $387,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Finally, Perennial Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 1.2% during the third quarter. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,719 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $821,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Caterpillar Stock Up 3.4%

Shares of CAT stock opened at $704.10 on Tuesday. Caterpillar Inc. has a one year low of $267.30 and a one year high of $789.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $683.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $578.41. The stock has a market cap of $327.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.53.

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

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

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

Key Stories Impacting 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

Insider Transactions at Caterpillar

In other news, insider Denise C. Johnson sold 39,138 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $681.08, for a total value of $26,656,109.04. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 43,350 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,524,818. This represents a 47.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Joseph E. Creed sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $718.93, for a total value of $1,797,325.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 35,083 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,222,221.19. The trade was a 6.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 135,950 shares of company stock valued at $94,327,990. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. HSBC raised their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $660.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Daiwa Securities Group increased their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $640.00 to $790.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $587.00 to $658.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $765.00 to $860.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, DA Davidson increased their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $569.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $726.00.

Caterpillar Profile

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.