Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Sells 12,312 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans cut its holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 2.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 481,400 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 12,312 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Caterpillar were worth $188,286,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the second quarter worth $28,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. bought a new position in Caterpillar during the second quarter worth about $28,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the 3rd quarter worth about $36,000. Fairscale Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the 2nd quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, POM Investment Strategies LLC boosted its stake in Caterpillar by 2,160.0% during the 2nd quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 113 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 3,185 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $351.36, for a total transaction of $1,119,081.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 33,442 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,750,181.12. The trade was a 8.70 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Gerald Johnson purchased 100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $338.59 per share, for a total transaction of $33,859.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 2,842 shares in the company, valued at $962,272.78. This trade represents a 3.65 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 23,749 shares of company stock worth $9,251,912. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Caterpillar from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $349.00 to $332.00 in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Caterpillar from $445.00 to $435.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. UBS Group boosted their target price on Caterpillar from $285.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Evercore ISI lowered Caterpillar from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $321.00 to $365.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Caterpillar from $399.00 to $456.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $365.33.

Caterpillar Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:CAT opened at $384.07 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $381.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $354.20. Caterpillar Inc. has a one year low of $241.81 and a one year high of $418.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $185.43 billion, a PE ratio of 17.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.10.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.33 by ($0.16). The company had revenue of $16.11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.37 billion. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 59.09% and a net margin of 16.26%. The business’s revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.52 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 21.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Investors of record on Monday, October 21st will be paid a $1.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 21st. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.47%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.15%.

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.