Pitcairn Co. Trims Holdings in Mondelez International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDLZ)

Pitcairn Co. lessened its stake in shares of Mondelez International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDLZ) by 8.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 45,424 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,954 shares during the period. Pitcairn Co.’s holdings in Mondelez International were worth $2,713,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. DF Dent & Co. Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Mondelez International by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. DF Dent & Co. Inc. now owns 21,555 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,287,000 after buying an additional 213 shares in the last quarter. Bryce Point Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mondelez International in the 4th quarter worth $478,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in shares of Mondelez International by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 17,423,363 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,040,697,000 after purchasing an additional 208,181 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Mondelez International by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 29,969 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,790,000 after purchasing an additional 355 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Mondelez International during the fourth quarter valued at $4,109,000. 78.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MDLZ has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. DZ Bank lowered Mondelez International from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $52.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Mondelez International from $78.00 to $71.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Mondelez International from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Mondelez International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $75.00 to $62.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Mondelez International in a research note on Monday, March 24th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $69.00 price target on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Mondelez International presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $70.20.

Mondelez International Stock Down 2.2 %

Shares of MDLZ stock opened at $66.13 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $85.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.34, a PEG ratio of 4.34 and a beta of 0.50. Mondelez International, Inc. has a one year low of $53.95 and a one year high of $76.06. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $62.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $64.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.48.

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

Mondelez International Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 14th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.47 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.84%. Mondelez International’s payout ratio is 54.97%.

Mondelez International announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to repurchase $9.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 10.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership 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.