Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Purchases 15,747 Shares of The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC)

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC lifted its holdings in The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) by 16.3% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 112,241 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 15,747 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC’s holdings in Kraft Heinz were worth $3,941,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in KHC. Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its holdings in Kraft Heinz by 249.5% in the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 741 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 529 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kraft Heinz during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. lifted its position in shares of Kraft Heinz by 1,077.0% during the 3rd quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 871 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 797 shares during the period. Asset Dedication LLC lifted its position in shares of Kraft Heinz by 94.8% during the 2nd quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 978 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 476 shares during the period. Finally, Bangor Savings Bank bought a new position in Kraft Heinz during the third quarter worth $32,000. 78.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on KHC shares. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Kraft Heinz from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded Kraft Heinz from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $39.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $35.00 price objective (down previously from $40.00) on shares of Kraft Heinz in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Kraft Heinz from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Mizuho cut their target price on Kraft Heinz from $43.00 to $41.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $36.55.

Kraft Heinz Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:KHC opened at $30.81 on Monday. The Kraft Heinz Company has a 1-year low of $30.40 and a 1-year high of $38.96. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The stock has a market cap of $37.25 billion, a PE ratio of 27.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 0.48. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $33.40 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $33.93.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.01. Kraft Heinz had a net margin of 5.24% and a return on equity of 7.46%. The business had revenue of $6.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.42 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.72 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that The Kraft Heinz Company will post 3.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kraft Heinz Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.19%. Kraft Heinz’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 144.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kraft Heinz

In other news, EVP Pedro F. P. Navio sold 45,000 shares of Kraft Heinz stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.45, for a total transaction of $1,505,250.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 168,195 shares in the company, valued at $5,626,122.75. The trade was a 21.11 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

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.