Cannell & Spears LLC Reduces Position in Mondelez International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDLZ)

Cannell & Spears LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Mondelez International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDLZ) by 12.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 596,485 shares of the company’s stock after selling 83,259 shares during the period. Cannell & Spears LLC’s holdings in Mondelez International were worth $35,628,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Mondelez International by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 132,437,250 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,910,477,000 after buying an additional 931,776 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Mondelez International by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 60,151,987 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,459,239,000 after purchasing an additional 1,851,247 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Mondelez International by 1.2% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 28,204,955 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,069,906,000 after buying an additional 341,203 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Mondelez International in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,118,755,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Mondelez International by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 10,354,236 shares of the company’s stock valued at $618,458,000 after buying an additional 326,177 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.32% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. DZ Bank downgraded Mondelez International from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $52.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Mondelez International from $82.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. Argus downgraded shares of Mondelez International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Dbs Bank cut Mondelez International from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Mondelez International from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Mondelez International currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $69.50.

Mondelez International Stock Performance

MDLZ opened at $67.72 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The business’s 50 day moving average is $62.25 and its 200-day moving average is $64.75. The stock has a market cap of $87.60 billion, a PE ratio of 19.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.34 and a beta of 0.50. Mondelez International, Inc. has a twelve month low of $53.95 and a twelve month high of $76.06.

Mondelez International (NASDAQ:MDLZ) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.66 by ($0.01). Mondelez International had a net margin of 12.68% and a return on equity of 16.75%. On average, analysts predict that Mondelez International, Inc. will post 2.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Mondelez International Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.47 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.78%. Mondelez International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.97%.

Mondelez International announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to buyback $9.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to buy up to 10.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Mondelez International 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.