Hilltop Holdings Inc. Reduces Holdings in Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Hilltop Holdings Inc. reduced its stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 15.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,318 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,157 shares during the quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $3,015,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Kilter Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the second quarter worth $27,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Caterpillar by 1,060.0% in the 3rd quarter. Marquette Asset Management LLC now owns 58 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the period. RiverPark Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Caterpillar in the 2nd quarter worth $32,000. Joseph Group Capital Management acquired a new stake in Caterpillar during the 3rd quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC grew its stake in Caterpillar by 107.0% during the 2nd quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 89 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on CAT shares. Bank of America increased their price objective on Caterpillar from $735.00 to $825.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Evercore upped their target price on Caterpillar from $476.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 17th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $756.00 to $870.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $610.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $729.00 to $786.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $730.50.

Caterpillar Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of CAT stock opened at $700.09 on Tuesday. Caterpillar Inc. has a twelve month low of $267.30 and a twelve month high of $789.81. The stock has a market cap of $325.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.53. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $695.58 and a 200 day moving average of $587.94. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The industrial products company reported $5.16 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.67 by $0.49. The business had revenue of $19.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.81 billion. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 45.76% and a net margin of 13.14%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 17.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $5.14 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 972 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $764.20, for a total transaction of $742,802.40. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $629,700.80. This represents a 54.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 7,891 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction on Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $776.90, for a total transaction of $6,130,517.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 46,643 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $36,236,946.70. The trade was a 14.47% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 135,950 shares of company stock valued at $94,327,990 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

About Caterpillar

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.