Aull & Monroe Investment Management Corp Sells 2,781 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Aull & Monroe Investment Management Corp decreased its stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 13.2% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 18,334 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 2,781 shares during the quarter. Caterpillar makes up about 3.8% of Aull & Monroe Investment Management Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Aull & Monroe Investment Management Corp’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $7,117,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CAT. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 36,842.1% in the second quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,299,751 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,833,836,000 after acquiring an additional 7,279,991 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 2,723.1% in the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,414,280 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $466,430,000 after acquiring an additional 1,364,183 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the first quarter worth $391,788,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 546.6% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 843,093 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $327,297,000 after acquiring an additional 712,711 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 9.1% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,229,080 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,064,951,000 after acquiring an additional 268,300 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Stock Performance

CAT opened at $527.41 on Friday. 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 company has a market cap of $247.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.83, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.46. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52-week low of $267.30 and a 52-week high of $544.99. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $453.38 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $390.93.

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

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 20th will be issued a dividend of $1.51 per share. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 20th. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.72%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on CAT. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $480.00 to $513.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $425.00 to $485.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. Melius Research upgraded shares of Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $500.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $450.00 to $506.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $507.00 to $582.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $510.60.

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In other Caterpillar news, Director Susan C. Schwab sold 2,324 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $410.00, for a total transaction of $952,840.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 6,917 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,835,970. This trade represents a 25.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Donald J. Umpleby III sold 17,168 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $412.87, for a total transaction of $7,088,152.16. Following the transaction, the chairman directly owned 482,505 shares in the company, valued at approximately $199,211,839.35. The trade was a 3.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 55,985 shares of company stock valued at $25,559,300 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar 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.