First Merchants Corp Lowers Stake in Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

First Merchants Corp lessened its position in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 16.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,948 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 2,320 shares during the period. First Merchants Corp’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $4,638,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Massachusetts Wealth Management grew its position in Caterpillar by 1.9% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management now owns 6,262 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,431,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares during the period. Narwhal Capital Management grew its position in Caterpillar by 6.5% during the second quarter. Narwhal Capital Management now owns 26,202 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $10,172,000 after acquiring an additional 1,600 shares during the period. Ignite Planners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 1.7% during the second quarter. Ignite Planners LLC now owns 6,772 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,802,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 0.9% during the second quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 3,443 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,336,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hall Capital Management Co. Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the second quarter worth about $231,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CAT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Caterpillar from $507.00 to $582.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on Caterpillar from $331.00 to $388.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Barclays boosted their price objective on Caterpillar from $383.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Caterpillar from $475.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Caterpillar from $480.00 to $513.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $473.53.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Donald J. Umpleby III sold 17,168 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $412.87, for a total transaction of $7,088,152.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman directly owned 482,505 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $199,211,839.35. This represents a 3.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,161 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.70, for a total value of $902,649.70. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 8,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,605,586.40. This trade represents a 20.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 38,819 shares of company stock valued at $16,885,492. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Caterpillar Stock Up 3.2%

Shares of Caterpillar stock opened at $502.08 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. The firm has a market cap of $235.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 1.46. Caterpillar Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $267.30 and a fifty-two week high of $509.48. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $440.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $381.76.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The industrial products company reported $4.72 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.88 by ($0.16). The firm had revenue of $16.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.14 billion. Caterpillar had a net margin of 14.95% and a return on equity of 48.95%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.99 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 20th will be issued a dividend of $1.51 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 20th. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is 30.72%.

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.