Meridian Wealth Management LLC Buys 2,416 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. $CAT

Meridian Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 6.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 41,388 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,416 shares during the quarter. Caterpillar accounts for 0.7% of Meridian Wealth Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. Meridian Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $16,067,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 36,842.1% during the 2nd 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. boosted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 2,723.1% in the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,414,280 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $466,430,000 after purchasing an additional 1,364,183 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the 1st quarter valued at $391,788,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 546.6% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 843,093 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $327,297,000 after buying an additional 712,711 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in 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 valued at $1,064,951,000 after buying an additional 268,300 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 8,184 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $570.18, for a total value of $4,666,353.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 41,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,669,312.16. This trade represents a 16.47% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director David Maclennan bought 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 6th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $568.86 per share, for a total transaction of $170,658.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 7,947 shares in the company, valued at $4,520,730.42. This represents a 3.92% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 86,229 shares of company stock worth $43,323,118. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Caterpillar Price Performance

Shares of CAT opened at $552.74 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $506.27 and a 200-day moving average of $426.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The company has a market capitalization of $258.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 1.51. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1 year low of $267.30 and a 1 year high of $596.21.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $4.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.52 by $0.43. The business had revenue of $17.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.72 billion. Caterpillar had a net margin of 14.34% and a return on equity of 47.16%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $5.17 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 20th will be given a dividend of $1.51 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 20th. This represents a $6.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is 31.01%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada assumed coverage on shares of Caterpillar in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $560.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $350.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Caterpillar from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $476.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on Caterpillar in a report on Thursday. They set an “overweight” rating and a $675.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Caterpillar from $513.00 to $645.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $600.94.

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.