First Pacific Financial Acquires 788 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

First Pacific Financial grew its stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT - Free Report) by 128.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,402 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 788 shares during the period. First Pacific Financial's holdings in Caterpillar were worth $509,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 39,534.0% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,136,667 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $8,356,930,000 after purchasing an additional 2,131,276 shares during the last quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd grew its position in shares of Caterpillar by 3,319.7% during the 2nd quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 275,011 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $91,606,000 after buying an additional 266,969 shares during the period. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI increased its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 4,018.6% in the 3rd quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 255,355 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $99,874,000 after acquiring an additional 249,155 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Caterpillar by 2.3% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 8,952,632 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $3,501,554,000 after purchasing an additional 205,012 shares during the period. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its holdings in Caterpillar by 34.4% during the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 782,133 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $305,908,000 after acquiring an additional 200,210 shares in the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $455.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. UBS Group increased their target price on Caterpillar from $285.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Caterpillar from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Truist Financial dropped their target price on Caterpillar from $471.00 to $455.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley downgraded Caterpillar from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $349.00 to $332.00 in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Three investment 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $380.60.

Caterpillar Price Performance

NYSE CAT traded up $5.48 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $386.03. The company had a trading volume of 2,596,820 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,595,788. The company has a market capitalization of $186.38 billion, a PE ratio of 17.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.13. Caterpillar Inc. has a twelve month low of $277.66 and a twelve month high of $418.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $380.09 and a 200-day moving average price of $366.76.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.17 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.33 by ($0.16). The firm had revenue of $16.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.37 billion. Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.26% and a return on equity of 59.09%. Caterpillar's quarterly revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.52 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate 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. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be issued a $1.41 dividend. 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.15%.

Insider Activity

In other Caterpillar news, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 968 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $380.98, for a total value of $368,788.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,686 shares in the company, valued at approximately $642,332.28. This trade represents a 36.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Lange Bob De sold 12,657 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $410.25, for a total value of $5,192,534.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 71,107 shares of the company's stock, valued at $29,171,646.75. This represents a 15.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 33,868 shares of company stock worth $13,480,389. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company's stock.

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.