FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH Purchases New Position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 581 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $211,000.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Seven Eight Capital LP purchased a new stake in Caterpillar during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $523,000. ProVise Management Group LLC boosted its holdings in Caterpillar by 36.7% during the second quarter. ProVise Management Group LLC now owns 1,208 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $402,000 after buying an additional 324 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,535 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,177,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 11.6% during the 2nd quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 23,642 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $7,875,000 after buying an additional 2,462 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. grew its position in shares of Caterpillar by 10.5% in the second quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 27,695 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $9,225,000 after purchasing an additional 2,627 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CAT opened at $386.03 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $380.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $366.76. Caterpillar Inc. has a one year low of $277.66 and a one year high of $418.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.40. The company has a market cap of $186.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.90, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.13.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its quarterly 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). The company had revenue of $16.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.37 billion. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 59.09% and a net margin of 16.26%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $5.52 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be given a $1.41 dividend. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 21st. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In other news, Director Daniel M. Dickinson sold 1,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $418.00, for a total value of $543,400.00. Following the completion of 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $380.09, for a total transaction of $3,800,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 45,182 shares in the company, valued at $17,173,226.38. The trade was a 18.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 33,868 shares of company stock valued at $13,480,389 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on CAT shares. Evercore ISI raised shares of Caterpillar from an “underperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $365.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $376.00 to $434.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Caterpillar from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Caterpillar from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $349.00 to $332.00 in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Caterpillar from $455.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $380.60.

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.