Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. Acquires 119 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 0.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 26,722 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 119 shares during the period. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $9,792,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Partnership Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Thompson Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the 1st quarter worth about $27,000. Gilfoyle & Co LLC purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Vima LLC purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CAT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Truist Financial initiated coverage on shares of Caterpillar in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $390.00 target price on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus cut shares of Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their target price for the company from $293.00 to $350.00 in a research note on Friday, April 26th. HSBC upped their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $330.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $357.00 to $408.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Caterpillar in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. They set a “buy” rating and a $380.00 target price on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $329.63.

Caterpillar Price Performance

CAT traded down $2.60 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $326.48. 787,001 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,706,767. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 1.35. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12-month low of $223.76 and a 12-month high of $382.01. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $339.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $329.78. The company has a market cap of $159.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.84, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.12.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $5.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.12 by $0.48. Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.79% and a return on equity of 58.61%. The business had revenue of $15.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.07 billion. On average, equities analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.84 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Investors of record on Monday, July 22nd will be issued a $1.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 22nd. This is a positive change from Caterpillar’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.73%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.48%.

Caterpillar declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, June 12th that permits the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the industrial products company to reacquire up to 12.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In related news, insider Lange Bob De sold 21,847 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $356.90, for a total value of $7,797,194.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 71,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,380,943.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider Cheryl H. Johnson sold 1,508 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $340.00, for a total transaction of $512,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 20,023 shares in the company, valued at $6,807,820. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Lange Bob De sold 21,847 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $356.90, for a total value of $7,797,194.30. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 71,115 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,380,943.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.