Argent Trust Co Has $3.91 Million Stock Holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Argent Trust Co raised its holdings in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 9.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 10,788 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 922 shares during the quarter. Argent Trust Co’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $3,913,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Caterpillar during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new position in Caterpillar during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Caterpillar in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. 70.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $380.09, for a total value of $3,800,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 45,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,173,226.38. This trade represents a 18.12 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,425 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $354.70, for a total transaction of $860,147.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,275 shares in the company, valued at $2,225,742.50. This trade represents a 27.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Caterpillar Stock Down 4.1 %

Shares of CAT opened at $288.56 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $335.35 and a 200-day moving average of $367.76. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52 week low of $267.30 and a 52 week high of $418.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $137.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.07, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.42.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.97 by $0.17. Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.65% and a return on equity of 58.18%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Investors of record on Monday, April 21st will be given a dividend of $1.41 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 21st. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.95%. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is 25.56%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CAT has been the topic of a number of research reports. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Caterpillar from $365.00 to $375.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Raymond James upgraded Caterpillar from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Caterpillar from $330.00 to $300.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $430.00 to $320.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $373.20.

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.