Caterpillar Inc. $CAT Stock Bought by ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. increased its stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 5,857.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 82,689 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 81,301 shares during the quarter. Caterpillar makes up approximately 1.9% of ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $67,043,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Caterpillar in the second quarter worth about $40,457,153,000. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 4.0% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 36,276,960 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $37,120,529,000 after buying an additional 1,396,356 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the 2nd quarter valued at about $5,818,150,000. Diamant Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 68,427.2% during the 1st quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,140,603 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,224,992,000 after buying an additional 3,136,020 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,031,666 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,736,750,000 after buying an additional 68,770 shares in the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Caterpillar news, CEO Joseph E. Creed sold 32,401 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $808.98, for a total value of $26,211,760.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 34,555 shares in the company, valued at $27,954,303.90. This represents a 48.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Key Caterpillar News

Here are the key news stories impacting Caterpillar this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Oppenheimer lowered its Caterpillar price target from $1,118 to $1,009 but maintained an “outperform” rating. The new target implies substantial potential upside from recent levels, suggesting the analyst still sees attractive long-term value after the pullback. Benzinga analyst price target report
• Positive Sentiment: Caterpillar’s board maintained its quarterly dividend at $1.63 per share, payable November 19 to shareholders of record October 19. The annualized dividend is $6.52 per share, or approximately a 0.9% yield, reinforcing the company’s long record of returning cash to shareholders. Caterpillar maintains dividend
• Neutral Sentiment: Caterpillar is attracting elevated investor attention, while comparisons with Deere and Timken focus on relative valuation, cyclical exposure and the outlook for industrial demand. These reports may increase trading interest but do not represent new company-specific operating developments. Caterpillar investor attention report
• Negative Sentiment: Shares contributed to declines in the Dow as investors continued selling AI- and data-center-related beneficiaries amid inflation concerns. Caterpillar has fallen roughly 30% from its record high, reflecting a sharp reassessment of the premium investors had assigned to its data-center power opportunity. Caterpillar AI selloff and inflation concerns
• Negative Sentiment: Analysts have reduced expectations: Erste Group cut its fiscal 2027 EPS forecast to $32.14 from $32.28 and kept a “hold” rating, while Citi and Truist reportedly lowered their price targets. Investors are also questioning whether Caterpillar’s elevated earnings multiple can be sustained if data-center-related demand moderates. Caterpillar analyst target cuts

Caterpillar Price Performance

Shares of Caterpillar stock opened at $747.18 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $816.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $855.96. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52 week low of $510.21 and a 52 week high of $1,073.46. The company has a market capitalization of $343.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.15, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The industrial products company reported $8.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.22 by $1.95. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 55.53% and a net margin of 14.51%. The firm had revenue of $20.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.34 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $4.72 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 23.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 27.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 19th. Investors of record on Monday, October 19th will be issued a $1.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 19th. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is currently 28.06%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on CAT shares. Freedom Broker upgraded Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $980.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 10th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $1,225.00 to $1,100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 5th. President Capital assumed coverage on shares of Caterpillar in a research note on Friday, September 18th. They set a “buy” rating and a $999.00 target price on the stock. Robert W. Baird set a $970.00 price target on shares of Caterpillar in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Erste Group Bank lowered shares of Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $967.83.

About Caterpillar

Caterpillar Inc is a global manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines, and diesel-electric locomotives. Its products are used in infrastructure development, construction, mining, energy production, transportation, agriculture, forestry, and other industrial applications.

The company markets equipment and related services through a worldwide network of independent dealers. Its operations are generally organized around Construction Industries, Resource Industries, and Energy & Transportation.