Aull & Monroe Investment Management Corp Has $7.79 Million Stock Holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Aull & Monroe Investment Management Corp lessened its stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 6.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 21,464 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,390 shares during the period. Caterpillar makes up approximately 4.0% of Aull & Monroe Investment Management Corp’s holdings, making the stock its largest holding. Aull & Monroe Investment Management Corp’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $7,786,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CAT. United Advisor Group LLC grew its position in shares of Caterpillar by 15.0% during the 3rd quarter. United Advisor Group LLC now owns 949 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $371,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the period. Focused Wealth Management Inc grew its position in shares of Caterpillar by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Focused Wealth Management Inc now owns 7,668 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,999,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the period. Balentine LLC grew its position in shares of Caterpillar by 389.7% during the 3rd quarter. Balentine LLC now owns 3,359 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,314,000 after acquiring an additional 2,673 shares during the period. Catalina Capital Group LLC grew its position in shares of Caterpillar by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC now owns 2,691 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,053,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Security Advisor Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the 3rd quarter valued at $203,000. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $330.00 to $300.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $420.00 to $430.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group upgraded shares of Caterpillar from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $355.00 to $385.00 in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $515.00 to $490.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $452.00 to $414.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $383.80.

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In other Caterpillar news, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,425 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $354.70, for a total value of $860,147.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 6,275 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,225,742.50. This trade represents a 27.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 45,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,173,226.38. This represents a 18.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Caterpillar Price Performance

Shares of CAT stock opened at $338.74 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $363.91 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $372.74. Caterpillar Inc. has a one year low of $307.05 and a one year high of $418.50. The company has a market capitalization of $161.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.12.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.97 by $0.17. Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.65% and a return on equity of 58.18%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 21st were given a dividend of $1.41 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, January 21st. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.67%. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is 25.56%.

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.