City Holding Co. Decreases Stock Holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

City Holding Co. reduced its position in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 2.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,566 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 639 shares during the period. Caterpillar accounts for approximately 1.1% of City Holding Co.’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest position. City Holding Co.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $7,823,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC now owns 1,037 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $405,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. First Bank & Trust grew its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. First Bank & Trust now owns 709 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $277,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares during the period. Washington Trust Bank raised its position in shares of Caterpillar by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Washington Trust Bank now owns 2,349 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $919,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Channel Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Channel Wealth LLC now owns 1,468 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $533,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pacifica Partners Inc. grew its stake in Caterpillar by 1.6% in the third quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 1,807 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $707,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on CAT shares. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $455.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Caterpillar from an “underperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $365.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Caterpillar from $376.00 to $434.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. StockNews.com lowered Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $285.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $380.60.

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In related news, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $380.09, for a total transaction of $3,800,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 45,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,173,226.38. This represents a 18.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 968 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $380.98, for a total transaction of $368,788.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,686 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $642,332.28. This trade represents a 36.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 33,868 shares of company stock valued at $13,480,389 over the last 90 days. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Caterpillar Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of CAT stock opened at $386.03 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12 month low of $277.66 and a 12 month high of $418.50. The stock has a market cap of $186.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $380.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $367.29.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.17 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.33 by ($0.16). Caterpillar had a return on equity of 59.09% and a net margin of 16.26%. The company had revenue of $16.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.37 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $5.52 earnings per share. Caterpillar’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The company 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 $1.41 dividend. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 21st. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is 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.