Securian Asset Management Inc. Sells 306 Shares of The Campbell Soup Company (NASDAQ:CPB)

Securian Asset Management Inc. reduced its position in The Campbell Soup Company (NASDAQ:CPB) by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 10,478 shares of the company’s stock after selling 306 shares during the period. Securian Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Campbell Soup were worth $439,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Campbell Soup by 3.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,048,679 shares of the company’s stock valued at $491,581,000 after acquiring an additional 298,203 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Campbell Soup by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 9,247,213 shares of the company’s stock valued at $387,273,000 after purchasing an additional 531,281 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Campbell Soup by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,265,615 shares of the company’s stock worth $256,827,000 after purchasing an additional 322,951 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in Campbell Soup by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,237,992 shares of the company’s stock worth $177,487,000 after buying an additional 199,470 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi increased its position in Campbell Soup by 23.9% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,958,238 shares of the company’s stock valued at $76,823,000 after buying an additional 377,307 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.35% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Campbell Soup

In related news, EVP Anthony Sanzio sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.90, for a total value of $83,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $693,486.90. This represents a 10.78 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 20.19% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on CPB. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Campbell Soup from $47.00 to $40.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Campbell Soup to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Campbell Soup from $39.00 to $37.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Campbell Soup from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $48.00 to $37.00 in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on Campbell Soup from $49.00 to $46.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $45.23.

Campbell Soup Trading Up 1.5 %

Campbell Soup stock opened at $39.01 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $11.63 billion, a PE ratio of 21.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.15. The Campbell Soup Company has a 12 month low of $36.92 and a 12 month high of $52.81. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $39.16 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $43.84. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74.

Campbell Soup (NASDAQ:CPB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 5th. The company reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $2.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.74 billion. Campbell Soup had a net margin of 5.57% and a return on equity of 23.79%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that The Campbell Soup Company will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Campbell Soup Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 28th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be issued a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.00%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. Campbell Soup’s payout ratio is currently 90.17%.

Campbell Soup Profile

Campbell Soup Company, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and markets food and beverage products in the United States and internationally. The company operates through Meals & Beverages and Snacks segments. The Meals & Beverages segment engages in the retail and foodservice businesses in the United States and Canada.