Appleton Partners Inc. MA Sells 81 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Appleton Partners Inc. MA trimmed its holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 4.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,687 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 81 shares during the period. Appleton Partners Inc. MA’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $655,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CAT. Trivium Point Advisory LLC grew its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 132.9% in the 2nd quarter. Trivium Point Advisory LLC now owns 1,926 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $748,000 after acquiring an additional 1,099 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 9.9% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 78,947 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $26,037,000 after acquiring an additional 7,125 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 11.2% in the 2nd quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 14,315 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,557,000 after acquiring an additional 1,440 shares in the last quarter. Ransom Advisory Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the 1st quarter worth $427,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,304,448 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,089,798,000 after acquiring an additional 15,347 shares in the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Caterpillar news, Director Susan C. Schwab sold 2,324 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $410.00, for a total transaction of $952,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 6,917 shares in the company, valued at $2,835,970. This trade represents a 25.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Chairman Donald J. Umpleby III sold 17,168 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 38,819 shares of company stock worth $16,885,492 over the last quarter. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on CAT shares. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $495.00 to $517.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Caterpillar from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $476.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Melius upgraded shares of Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $500.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $475.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $414.00 to $507.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $466.53.

Caterpillar Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CAT opened at $495.80 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $232.27 billion, a PE ratio of 25.22, a P/E/G ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 1.46. Caterpillar Inc. has a twelve month low of $267.30 and a twelve month high of $505.59. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $438.25 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $380.18.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The industrial products company reported $4.72 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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%.Caterpillar’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $5.99 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

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

About Caterpillar

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.