Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. Purchases 129 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. raised its position in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 0.5% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 26,851 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 129 shares during the period. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $8,944,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in CAT. Gilbert & Cook Inc. boosted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 5,059 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,496,000 after purchasing an additional 192 shares in the last quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,839 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,135,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Rollins Financial increased its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 49.1% during the fourth quarter. Rollins Financial now owns 6,395 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,891,000 after acquiring an additional 2,107 shares in the last quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Caterpillar by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,496 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $420,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealthspire Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Caterpillar by 8.9% in the 4th quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 5,336 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,578,000 after purchasing an additional 438 shares in the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Cheryl H. Johnson sold 1,508 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $350.00, for a total value of $527,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 18,515 shares in the company, valued at $6,480,250. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider Cheryl H. Johnson sold 1,508 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $350.00, for a total value of $527,800.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 18,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,480,250. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gerald Johnson purchased 100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $338.59 per share, with a total value of $33,859.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 2,842 shares in the company, valued at approximately $962,272.78. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 7,668 shares of company stock worth $2,665,760. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on CAT. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. StockNews.com downgraded Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Bank of America dropped their price target on Caterpillar from $385.00 to $376.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Caterpillar from $338.00 to $321.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Finally, Citigroup began coverage on Caterpillar in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $380.00 target price on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $336.31.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CAT traded up $4.01 during trading on Friday, hitting $337.57. 165,311 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,667,192. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $339.94 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $343.18. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52-week low of $223.76 and a 52-week high of $382.01. The company has a market cap of $165.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.12.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The industrial products company reported $5.99 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.53 by $0.46. The company had revenue of $16.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.91 billion. Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.58% and a return on equity of 59.88%. The firm’s revenue was down 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $5.55 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.87 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar announced that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, June 12th that permits the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the industrial products company to repurchase up to 12.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Caterpillar Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Investors of record on Monday, July 22nd were issued a $1.41 dividend. This is a boost from Caterpillar’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 22nd. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.67%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.46%.

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.