Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. Decreases Holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. reduced its stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 11.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 74,627 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 9,697 shares during the quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $27,072,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Caterpillar during the third quarter valued at $36,000. Albion Financial Group UT increased its position in Caterpillar by 334.8% in the fourth quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC raised its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 42.9% in the third quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC now owns 100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. Finally, Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 130.0% during the 4th quarter. Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC now owns 115 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Daniel M. Dickinson sold 1,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $418.00, for a total value of $543,400.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 4,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,079,968. This trade represents a 20.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $380.09, for a total transaction of $3,800,900.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 45,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,173,226.38. This represents a 18.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 30,236 shares of company stock worth $12,102,371 in the last 90 days. 0.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on CAT. StockNews.com cut Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $295.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $515.00 to $490.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Caterpillar from $299.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price objective on Caterpillar from $452.00 to $414.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Caterpillar currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $380.13.

Caterpillar Trading Down 0.8 %

NYSE CAT opened at $371.88 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $380.88 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $371.07. Caterpillar Inc. has a twelve month low of $299.93 and a twelve month high of $418.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33. The company has a market capitalization of $179.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.24, a PEG ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.13.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.97 by $0.17. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 59.09% and a net margin of 16.26%. Research analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be issued a dividend of $1.41 per share. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.52%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 21st. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.15%.

Caterpillar Company Profile

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.