Busey Bank Purchases 7,947 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Busey Bank lifted its position in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 9.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 94,953 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,947 shares during the quarter. Caterpillar makes up 1.1% of Busey Bank’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest position. Busey Bank’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $34,445,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CAT. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Caterpillar by 2.6% in the third 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. Allen Capital Group LLC boosted its stake in Caterpillar by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Allen Capital Group LLC now owns 4,247 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,541,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the period. First Bank & Trust grew its holdings in Caterpillar by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. First Bank & Trust now owns 709 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $277,000 after buying an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Washington Trust Bank increased its position in shares of Caterpillar by 1.2% during the third quarter. Washington Trust Bank now owns 2,349 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $919,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the period. Finally, Channel Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Channel Wealth LLC now owns 1,468 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $533,000 after acquiring an additional 27 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 recently weighed in on CAT shares. Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $471.00 to $455.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Evercore ISI upgraded Caterpillar from an “underperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $365.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. UBS Group upped their target price on Caterpillar from $295.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Caterpillar from $299.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on Caterpillar from $460.00 to $420.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Three equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Caterpillar has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $384.60.

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In other Caterpillar news, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 968 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $380.98, for a total transaction of $368,788.64. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,686 shares in the company, valued at approximately $642,332.28. This represents a 36.47 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 45,182 shares in the company, 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. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 33,868 shares of company stock valued at $13,480,389. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Caterpillar Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of Caterpillar stock opened at $394.01 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $381.43 and its 200-day moving average price is $370.62. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52-week low of $299.93 and a 52-week high of $418.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $190.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.13.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.97 by $0.17. Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.26% and a return on equity of 59.09%. Equities research analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.69 EPS for the current 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. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 21st. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.43%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.15%.

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.