Prudential Financial Inc. Sells 88,741 Shares of The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC)

Prudential Financial Inc. reduced its stake in shares of The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) by 15.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 487,700 shares of the company’s stock after selling 88,741 shares during the quarter. Prudential Financial Inc.’s holdings in Kraft Heinz were worth $14,977,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. United Services Automobile Association boosted its position in Kraft Heinz by 9.2% in the fourth quarter. United Services Automobile Association now owns 20,048 shares of the company’s stock valued at $616,000 after buying an additional 1,681 shares in the last quarter. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. bought a new position in shares of Kraft Heinz in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Kraft Heinz by 19.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 90,508,763 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,779,524,000 after acquiring an additional 14,996,486 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC grew its position in Kraft Heinz by 8.3% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 655,747 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,138,000 after acquiring an additional 50,040 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new position in Kraft Heinz in the 4th quarter valued at $9,755,000. 78.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Kraft Heinz Price Performance

Shares of KHC opened at $30.07 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $35.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.40. The Kraft Heinz Company has a 1 year low of $27.25 and a 1 year high of $38.96. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $29.97 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $31.78. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.06. Kraft Heinz had a net margin of 10.62% and a return on equity of 7.58%. On average, equities analysts predict that The Kraft Heinz Company will post 2.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Kraft Heinz Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Kraft Heinz’s dividend payout ratio is currently 70.80%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KHC has been the subject of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Kraft Heinz from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Kraft Heinz from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com raised shares of Kraft Heinz from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of Kraft Heinz from $32.00 to $28.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their price objective on Kraft Heinz from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and thirteen have issued a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $30.73.

Kraft Heinz Profile

The Kraft Heinz Company, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and markets food and beverage products in North America and internationally. Its products include condiments and sauces, cheese and dairy products, meals, meats, refreshment beverages, coffee, and other grocery products under the Kraft, Oscar Mayer, Heinz, Philadelphia, Lunchables, Velveeta, Ore-Ida, Maxwell House, Kool-Aid, Jell-O, Heinz, ABC, Master, Quero, Kraft, Golden Circle, Wattie's, Pudliszki, and Plasmon brands.