Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Boosts Stock Position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 2.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 492,395 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,995 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Caterpillar were worth $179,542,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Caterpillar during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Albion Financial Group UT grew its stake in Caterpillar by 334.8% in the fourth quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Caterpillar from $455.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Raymond James upgraded Caterpillar from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Wedbush upgraded shares of Caterpillar to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $365.00 to $375.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $455.00 to $438.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $383.80.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Gerald Johnson purchased 100 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was bought at an average price of $365.57 per share, with a total value of $36,557.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,053 shares in the company, valued at $1,116,085.21. The trade was a 3.39 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $380.09, for a total value of $3,800,900.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 45,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,173,226.38. This trade represents a 18.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Caterpillar Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of CAT stock opened at $342.66 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $360.39 and its 200 day moving average price is $372.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 0.89. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1-year low of $307.05 and a 1-year high of $418.50. The company has a market cap of $163.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.15.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.97 by $0.17. Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.65% and a return on equity of 58.18%. On average, research analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Company 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.