Franklin Resources Inc. Sells 5,399 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Franklin Resources Inc. decreased its stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 1.0% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 513,497 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 5,399 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $245,015,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its stake in Caterpillar by 0.3% during the third quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 13,243 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $6,319,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. FourThought Financial Partners LLC lifted its stake in Caterpillar by 0.6% in the third quarter. FourThought Financial Partners LLC now owns 13,291 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $6,342,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. LifePlan Financial LLC boosted its position in Caterpillar by 148.7% during the third quarter. LifePlan Financial LLC now owns 2,171 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,036,000 after buying an additional 1,298 shares during the period. Mercuria Capital Strategies LLC bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the third quarter valued at about $6,914,000. Finally, PFC Capital Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 6.4% in the third quarter. PFC Capital Group Inc. now owns 3,301 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,575,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

More Caterpillar News

Here are the key news stories impacting Caterpillar this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Citi raised its price target to $785 (from $760) and reiterated a Buy, citing strong U.S. construction demand shown at ConExpo — a validation of near-term equipment demand and a direct bullish signal for CAT shares. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrades (multiple outlets) have lifted the stock in recent sessions, reflecting improved sell-side conviction on growth and dividends. Upgrades can attract investor inflows and support the price. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Caterpillar signed a Global Framework Agreement to supply Atlas Energy Solutions with ~1.4 GW of power generation assets (~$840M) for 2027–2029 — a substantial multi-year order that diversifies revenue into power solutions and supports longer-term backlog and revenue visibility. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Cat Rentals brand refresh adds Cat AI Assistant and expanded telematics — this digital push can increase rental utilization, attach higher-margin services, and improve recurring service revenue and margins over time. Investors view services/telemetry as margin-accretive. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Oppenheimer and other analysts highlight an “AI-infused” industrial cycle (machines, power, physical AI) where Caterpillar is a beneficiary — a thematic tailwind that supports higher multiple / long-term demand for equipment and power infrastructure. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Market note: recent data points and headlines show day-to-day volatility — e.g., reports that CAT “suffered a larger drop than the market” are descriptive of trading action but don’t change the underlying order/margin catalysts. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Broader market selloff (Dow fell sharply) is weighing on CAT today — macro-driven risk-off and concerns about financials/interest rates dragged industrial names, prompting the intraday decline despite company-level positives. Article Title

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on CAT shares. Evercore increased their target price on Caterpillar from $476.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 17th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Caterpillar from $610.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Argus raised their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $625.00 to $820.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Caterpillar in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $765.00 to $860.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Caterpillar has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $730.50.

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In related news, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $575.06, for a total transaction of $5,750,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 45,460 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,142,227.60. The trade was a 18.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Lange Bob De sold 22,656 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $720.11, for a total value of $16,314,812.16. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 79,953 shares in the company, valued at approximately $57,574,954.83. This represents a 22.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 135,950 shares of company stock worth $94,327,990 over the last ninety days. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Caterpillar Trading Down 1.0%

NYSE:CAT opened at $700.55 on Friday. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12-month low of $267.30 and a 12-month high of $789.81. The firm has a market cap of $325.96 billion, a PE ratio of 37.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $692.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $582.12.

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

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.