Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC Purchases 1,843 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC lifted its position in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 12.7% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 16,356 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,843 shares during the quarter. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $17,418,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 0.7% in the second quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC now owns 1,635 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,741,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Inspirion Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Caterpillar by 1.2% during the second quarter. Inspirion Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 944 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $936,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Advisory LLC grew its position in Caterpillar by 0.7% in the first quarter. Cornerstone Advisory LLC now owns 1,818 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,288,000 after purchasing an additional 12 shares in the last quarter. Advisory Resource Group increased its stake in Caterpillar by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Advisory Resource Group now owns 1,632 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $935,000 after buying an additional 13 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sunbeam Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Caterpillar by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Sunbeam Capital Management LLC now owns 1,164 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $825,000 after buying an additional 13 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $1,118.00 price objective on shares of Caterpillar in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Caterpillar in a research report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Caterpillar from $1,050.00 to $1,155.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised their price target on Caterpillar from $700.00 to $950.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Caterpillar has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $995.52.

Caterpillar Stock Up 0.3%

Caterpillar stock opened at $844.52 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The company’s 50-day moving average is $921.04 and its 200-day moving average is $820.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $388.20 billion, a PE ratio of 36.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.60. Caterpillar Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $405.46 and a fifty-two week high of $1,073.46.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The industrial products company reported $8.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.22 by $1.95. Caterpillar had a net margin of 14.51% and a return on equity of 55.53%. The business had revenue of $20.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.34 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $4.72 EPS. Caterpillar’s revenue was up 23.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 26.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 20th will be given a $1.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 20th. This is a positive change from Caterpillar’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.51. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is 28.06%.

Trending Headlines about Caterpillar

Here are the key news stories impacting Caterpillar this week:

• Positive Sentiment: AI data-center demand is emerging as a major growth driver. Caterpillar is expanding power-generation capacity to supply electricity for power-intensive hyperscale data centers. Jim Cramer highlighted the company’s generators as a key reason CAT has outperformed Deere, while other coverage described the AI infrastructure opportunity as still in its early stages. Jim Cramer Shares Key Reason Why Caterpillar’s Shares Are Higher Than Deere’s CAT Stock Alert: Caterpillar’s AI Infrastructure Boom Is Just Getting Started
• Positive Sentiment: A new hyperscaler infrastructure agreement reinforces the opportunity. Energy Vault announced a planned 1.25-gigawatt deployment of integrated power infrastructure for an AI data center, using Caterpillar generator sets through a power-generation engineering, procurement and construction partner. The agreement provides additional evidence that CAT’s energy products can benefit from data-center construction. Energy Vault Announces Strategic Agreement for Hyperscaler AI Data Center Infrastructure
• Positive Sentiment: Recent earnings and guidance remain powerful catalysts. Caterpillar reported quarterly EPS of $8.17 versus the $6.22 consensus and revenue of $20.54 billion versus expectations of $19.34 billion. Revenue increased 23.7% year over year, and the company raised its 2026 sales-growth outlook as AI-related construction demand continued. Caterpillar Lifts 2026 Sales Growth Forecast as AI Buildout Powers On
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst sentiment is supportive but not uniformly aggressive: Caterpillar carries an average “Moderate Buy” rating, and Truist expects further upside. Coverage also notes CAT has outperformed industrial-products peers this year, although much of that optimism may already be reflected in the share price. Caterpillar Receives Moderate Buy Rating
• Negative Sentiment: Profit-taking and valuation are weighing on the stock. CAT has more than doubled from its 12-month low and trades at roughly 36 times earnings, leaving investors vulnerable to consolidation after the post-earnings surge. A pullback after the rally may therefore reflect high expectations rather than a new negative company announcement.

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In other news, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 360 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $906.00, for a total transaction of $326,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 530 shares in the company, valued at approximately $480,180. The trade was a 40.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Denise C. Johnson sold 12,605 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $907.91, for a total value of $11,444,205.55. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 49,825 shares in the company, valued at $45,236,615.75. The trade was a 20.19% 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 19,161 shares of company stock valued at $17,407,424 over the last quarter. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Caterpillar Company 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.