Leavell Investment Management Inc. Increases Stake in Mondelez International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDLZ)

Leavell Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Mondelez International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDLZ) by 5.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 11,602 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 580 shares during the period. Leavell Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Mondelez International were worth $698,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its position in Mondelez International by 12,057.4% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 12,574,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $926,327,000 after buying an additional 12,470,573 shares during the period. Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP purchased a new stake in Mondelez International during the 3rd quarter valued at $219,045,000. FMR LLC boosted its position in Mondelez International by 14.2% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,255,657 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,344,894,000 after buying an additional 2,268,639 shares during the period. Holocene Advisors LP purchased a new stake in Mondelez International during the 3rd quarter valued at $159,823,000. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI boosted its position in Mondelez International by 173.7% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 3,049,440 shares of the company’s stock valued at $224,652,000 after buying an additional 1,935,356 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.32% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MDLZ has been the subject of several analyst reports. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Mondelez International from $78.00 to $71.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of Mondelez International from $68.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Mondelez International from $76.00 to $63.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Mondelez International from $75.00 to $69.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Mondelez International from $82.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mondelez International presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $69.72.

Mondelez International Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of Mondelez International stock opened at $61.16 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.42. The company has a 50-day moving average of $59.06 and a 200 day moving average of $66.22. The firm has a market cap of $81.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.88, a PEG ratio of 4.04 and a beta of 0.54. Mondelez International, Inc. has a 1 year low of $53.95 and a 1 year high of $76.06.

Mondelez International (NASDAQ:MDLZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by ($0.01). Mondelez International had a net margin of 12.68% and a return on equity of 16.75%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Mondelez International, Inc. will post 2.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mondelez International Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a dividend of $0.47 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.07%. Mondelez International’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.97%.

Mondelez International announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to buyback $9.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase up to 10.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Mondelez International Company Profile

Mondelez International, Inc, through its subsidiaries, manufactures, markets, and sells snack food and beverage products in the Latin America, North America, Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Europe. It provides biscuits and baked snacks, including cookies, crackers, salted snacks, snack bars, and cakes and pastries; chocolates; and gums and candies, as well as various cheese and grocery, and powdered beverage products.