Country Trust Bank Buys 12,267 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Country Trust Bank grew its stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 7.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 188,581 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,267 shares during the period. Caterpillar comprises 1.3% of Country Trust Bank’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest position. Country Trust Bank’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $46,400,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CAT. West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Caterpillar in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Caterpillar by 272.4% in the 1st quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 108 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Caterpillar by 730.8% in the 1st quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 108 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Horan Securities Inc. lifted its stake in Caterpillar by 678.6% in the 1st quarter. Horan Securities Inc. now owns 109 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TFC Financial Management Inc. lifted its stake in Caterpillar by 470.8% in the 1st quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 137 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. 69.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CAT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $183.00 to $234.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 2nd. Tigress Financial increased their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $266.00 to $282.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 31st. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $283.00 to $323.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $240.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $267.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Caterpillar news, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 2,923 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.00, for a total value of $815,517.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 16,182 shares in the company, valued at $4,514,778. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 2,923 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.00, for a total value of $815,517.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 16,182 shares in the company, valued at $4,514,778. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Lange Bob De sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.00, for a total transaction of $5,500,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 53,671 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,759,525. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 54,918 shares of company stock worth $15,299,870. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Caterpillar Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of CAT stock traded up $2.04 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $281.19. The stock had a trading volume of 745,452 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,074,981. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $272.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $242.30. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52-week low of $160.60 and a 52-week high of $293.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $143.44 billion, a PE ratio of 17.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a current ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 1st. The industrial products company reported $5.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.57 by $0.98. Caterpillar had a net margin of 12.91% and a return on equity of 55.93%. The firm had revenue of $17.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.46 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.18 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Profile

Caterpillar, Inc engages in the manufacture of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines, and diesel-electric locomotives. It operates through the following segments: Construction Industries, Resource Industries, Energy and Transportation, Financial Products, and All Other.