Arizona State Retirement System Increases Stock Holdings in The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC)

Arizona State Retirement System increased its holdings in The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) by 7.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 263,763 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 17,381 shares during the quarter. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Kraft Heinz were worth $8,498,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Steward Partners Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Kraft Heinz in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. purchased a new stake in Kraft Heinz in the first quarter worth $27,000. Transcendent Capital Group LLC purchased a new stake in Kraft Heinz in the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in Kraft Heinz in the second quarter worth $34,000. Finally, AlphaMark Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Kraft Heinz by 128.9% in the first quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC now owns 1,181 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 665 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on KHC shares. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Kraft Heinz in a research report on Monday, August 12th. They set a “sell” rating and a $34.00 price objective for the company. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on Kraft Heinz from $42.00 to $38.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Kraft Heinz from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Barclays raised their price objective on Kraft Heinz from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Kraft Heinz from $38.00 to $37.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $37.31.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Cory Onell sold 4,076 shares of Kraft Heinz stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.00, for a total value of $146,736.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 143,970 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,182,920. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.32% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Kraft Heinz Price Performance

KHC opened at $35.84 on Friday. The Kraft Heinz Company has a 1 year low of $30.68 and a 1 year high of $38.96. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $34.14 and a 200-day moving average price of $35.07. The firm has a market cap of $43.52 billion, a PE ratio of 15.65, a P/E/G ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 0.53.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.05. Kraft Heinz had a return on equity of 7.38% and a net margin of 7.30%. The company had revenue of $6.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.55 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.79 EPS. Kraft Heinz’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that The Kraft Heinz Company will post 3.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kraft Heinz Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, August 30th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 30th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.46%. Kraft Heinz’s payout ratio is 69.87%.

Kraft Heinz Company 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.