Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp Cuts Stake in Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp lowered its position in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 4.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 66,486 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 2,826 shares during the period. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $38,088,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Plancorp LLC increased its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Plancorp LLC now owns 2,777 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,591,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the period. BlueStem Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. BlueStem Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,192 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $683,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the period. KDT Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. KDT Advisors LLC now owns 657 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $376,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the period. CFO4Life Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. CFO4Life Group LLC now owns 626 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $359,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the period. Finally, Sandy Cove Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Sandy Cove Advisors LLC now owns 1,279 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $733,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Price Performance

Shares of CAT stock opened at $872.61 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The company has a market cap of $401.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.43, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.59. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $811.10 and its 200 day moving average is $703.24. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1-year low of $339.50 and a 1-year high of $931.35.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.65 by $0.89. The business had revenue of $17.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.53 billion. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 48.21% and a net margin of 13.33%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 22.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $4.25 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 24.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 20th were issued a $1.51 dividend. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 20th. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.06%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Caterpillar news, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 360 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $906.00, for a total value of $326,160.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 530 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $480,180. This trade represents a 40.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Lange Bob De sold 24,222 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $922.92, for a total value of $22,354,968.24. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 86,029 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $79,397,884.68. This represents a 21.97% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 98,273 shares of company stock valued at $89,439,960. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on CAT. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on Caterpillar from $769.00 to $879.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Caterpillar from $940.00 to $1,165.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen raised Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Argus raised their price objective on Caterpillar from $820.00 to $990.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group raised their price objective on Caterpillar from $790.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $923.14.

Caterpillar Company Profile

Caterpillar Inc is a global manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines and locomotives. The company’s product portfolio includes earthmoving machines such as excavators, bulldozers, wheel loaders and off‑highway trucks, as well as a range of power generation products including generator sets and power systems for industrial and commercial use. Caterpillar serves customers across heavy construction, mining, energy, transportation and related industries with both equipment and integrated technology solutions.

In addition to manufacturing, Caterpillar provides a broad range of aftermarket parts and support services, including maintenance, repair, remanufacturing and fleet management tools.