Merit Financial Group LLC Increases Position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 30.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 20,178 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,737 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $7,320,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Fairscale Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Caterpillar in the 2nd quarter valued at $36,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in Caterpillar during the third quarter worth about $36,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC raised its stake in Caterpillar by 42.9% during the third quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC now owns 100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. HWG Holdings LP purchased a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $54,000. Finally, SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. increased its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 47.2% during the 3rd quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 156 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $61,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI upgraded Caterpillar from an “underperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $365.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $460.00 to $420.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $285.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Caterpillar currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $380.60.

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In other news, insider Cheryl H. Johnson sold 2,664 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $378.84, for a total value of $1,009,229.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 12,951 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,906,356.84. This represents a 17.06 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Daniel M. Dickinson sold 1,300 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $418.00, for a total transaction of $543,400.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 4,976 shares in the company, valued at $2,079,968. This represents a 20.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 33,868 shares of company stock valued at $13,480,389 over the last quarter. 0.29% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Caterpillar Trading Up 1.4 %

CAT opened at $386.03 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $186.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.90, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.13. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $380.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $367.03. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12 month low of $277.66 and a 12 month high of $418.50.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.17 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.33 by ($0.16). Caterpillar had a return on equity of 59.09% and a net margin of 16.26%. The firm had revenue of $16.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.37 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.52 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be paid 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 1.46%. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is currently 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.