Legal & General Group Plc Purchases 58,993 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 2.2% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,802,068 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 58,993 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $1,337,007,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in CAT. WINTON GROUP Ltd bought a new stake in Caterpillar during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $12,698,000. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. increased its position in Caterpillar by 24.1% in the 3rd quarter. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. now owns 8,778 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,221,000 after buying an additional 1,707 shares during the period. Planning Directions Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the third quarter worth approximately $224,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 2.3% in the third quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 177,465 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $84,519,000 after acquiring an additional 4,055 shares during the period. Finally, Inceptionr LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the third quarter worth $859,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CAT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $785.00 to $825.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Wolfe Research raised their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $470.00 to $670.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 2nd. HSBC upped their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $660.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Rothschild & Co Redburn increased their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $678.00 target price on shares of Caterpillar in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Caterpillar currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $726.00.

Insider Buying and Selling 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 stock was sold at an average price of $575.06, for a total value of $5,750,600.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 45,460 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,142,227.60. The trade was a 18.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Lange Bob De sold 22,656 shares of the company’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 $57,574,954.83. This trade represents a 22.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 135,950 shares of company stock worth $94,327,990 over the last three months. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Caterpillar Price Performance

Shares of Caterpillar stock opened at $704.10 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $327.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.53. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $683.98 and its 200-day simple moving average is $578.41. Caterpillar Inc. has a twelve month low of $267.30 and a twelve month high of $789.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.44.

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

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 19th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 20th were issued a $1.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, January 20th. This represents a $6.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.09%.

Trending Headlines about Caterpillar

Here are the key news stories impacting Caterpillar this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Multiple analyst price‑target raises lift the outlook and signal upside potential; Citigroup bumped its target to $785 and reiterated a Buy rating, implying further upside from current levels. Article Title MarketScreener
• Positive Sentiment: Additional published price‑target increases (to $817 and $825) further underpin analyst confidence and provide explicit upside benchmarks for investors. Price Target $817 Price Target $825
• Positive Sentiment: Product and tech innovation headlines — including a new heavy electric‑drive dozer and AI/autonomous jobsite showcases at CONEXPO — support a re‑rating toward higher valuation multiples if execution and adoption continue. Electric Dozer AI Jobsite Tech
• Positive Sentiment: Positive media/analyst features (Zacks, Motley Fool) frame CAT as a long‑term favorite and list reasons to buy, reinforcing investor interest and momentum narratives. Zacks Fool
• Neutral Sentiment: Forbes highlights a short‑term pullback from recent highs and debates buy‑the‑dip vs. profit‑taking; useful for traders weighing entry timing but not a change to the company’s fundamentals. Forbes
• Neutral Sentiment: Zacks Market Edge highlighted Caterpillar among notable names — additional visibility but no new company guidance reported. Zacks Market Edge
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: the CEO sold about $1.8M of stock; outlets note this activity and it has prompted intraday weakness in some reports — a potential near‑term headwind for sentiment. Insider Sale Trading Down Article

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.