Kentucky Trust Co Boosts Holdings in Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Kentucky Trust Co boosted its position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,058 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the quarter. Caterpillar comprises 1.3% of Kentucky Trust Co’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest position. Kentucky Trust Co’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $2,352,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Pacific Point Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the 4th quarter worth $579,000. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 51.5% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,409 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,688,000 after buying an additional 2,519 shares during the last quarter. GTS Securities LLC increased its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 112.0% in the 4th quarter. GTS Securities LLC now owns 1,764 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $640,000 after buying an additional 16,472 shares during the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 44.0% in the 4th quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 1,639 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $595,000 after buying an additional 501 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital A Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the 4th quarter worth $68,000. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In other Caterpillar news, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,161 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.70, for a total transaction of $902,649.70. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 8,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,605,586.40. This represents a 20.02% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Susan C. Schwab sold 2,324 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $410.00, for a total transaction of $952,840.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 6,917 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,835,970. The trade was a 25.15% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 38,819 shares of company stock valued at $16,885,492 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of CAT opened at $471.77 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $221.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.00, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $427.87 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $371.09. Caterpillar Inc. has a twelve month low of $267.30 and a twelve month high of $485.34.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The industrial products company reported $4.72 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.88 by ($0.16). The firm had revenue of $16.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.14 billion. Caterpillar had a net margin of 14.95% and a return on equity of 48.95%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $5.99 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Caterpillar in a report on Monday, July 14th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $495.00 to $540.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $475.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $495.00 to $517.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $500.00 target price on shares of Caterpillar in a report on Friday, August 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $464.33.

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.