First Citizens Financial Corp Cuts Position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

First Citizens Financial Corp lessened its holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,701 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 58 shares during the quarter. First Citizens Financial Corp’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $1,343,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CAT. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Caterpillar by 39,534.0% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,136,667 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $8,356,930,000 after buying an additional 2,131,276 shares during the last quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 3,319.7% in the 2nd quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 275,011 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $91,606,000 after purchasing an additional 266,969 shares during the period. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI lifted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 4,018.6% during 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 buying an additional 249,155 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 8,952,632 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,501,554,000 after acquiring an additional 205,012 shares during the period. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its holdings in Caterpillar by 34.4% in the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Caterpillar Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of CAT stock traded up $2.26 on Friday, hitting $362.03. 413,306 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,087,252. The stock has a market capitalization of $174.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.13. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $384.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $363.74. Caterpillar Inc. has a one year low of $276.94 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.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $16.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $5.52 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.68 EPS for the current year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be paid a $1.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 21st. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.56%. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is presently 26.15%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on CAT shares. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $454.00 to $471.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $455.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Evercore ISI lowered shares of Caterpillar from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $321.00 to $365.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $435.00 to $460.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $384.33.

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In other Caterpillar news, Director Daniel M. Dickinson sold 1,300 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $418.00, for a total transaction of $543,400.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 4,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,079,968. The trade was a 20.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 968 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were 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 owns 1,686 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $642,332.28. The trade was a 36.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 23,868 shares of company stock worth $9,679,489 over the last quarter. 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.