Busey Bank Acquires 7,947 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Busey Bank grew its stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 9.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 94,953 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 7,947 shares during the quarter. Caterpillar accounts for about 1.1% of Busey Bank’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest position. Busey Bank’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $34,445,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CAT. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the third quarter worth approximately $36,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC increased its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 42.9% in the 3rd quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC now owns 100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Albion Financial Group UT raised its holdings in Caterpillar by 334.8% in the 4th quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the period. Finally, Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC grew its holdings in Caterpillar by 130.0% during the fourth quarter. Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC now owns 115 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Lange Bob De sold 12,657 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $410.25, for a total transaction of $5,192,534.25. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 71,107 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,171,646.75. The trade was a 15.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Cheryl H. Johnson sold 2,664 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $378.84, for a total value of $1,009,229.76. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 12,951 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,906,356.84. This represents a 17.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 33,868 shares of company stock worth $13,480,389. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on CAT. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Caterpillar from $299.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Caterpillar from an “underperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $365.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Caterpillar from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $349.00 to $332.00 in a report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their price target on Caterpillar from $471.00 to $455.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $384.60.

Caterpillar Stock Up 1.0 %

CAT stock opened at $394.01 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $381.43 and its 200 day moving average is $370.62. The firm has a market cap of $190.23 billion, a PE ratio of 18.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.13. Caterpillar Inc. has a one year low of $299.93 and a one year high of $418.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.40.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.97 by $0.17. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 59.09% and a net margin of 16.26%. On average, research analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.69 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be paid a $1.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 21st. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.43%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.15%.

About Caterpillar

Caterpillar Inc manufactures and sells construction and mining equipment, off-highway diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines, and diesel-electric locomotives in worldwide. Its Construction Industries segment offers asphalt pavers, compactors, road reclaimers, forestry machines, cold planers, material handlers, track-type tractors, excavators, telehandlers, motor graders, and pipelayers; compact track, wheel, track-type, backhoe, and skid steer loaders; and related parts and tools.