Mondelez International (NASDAQ:MDLZ) Shares Gap Up Following Analyst Upgrade

Mondelez International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDLZ) gapped up prior to trading on Thursday after Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on the stock from $64.00 to $68.00. The stock had previously closed at $66.13, but opened at $67.69. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Mondelez International shares last traded at $67.53, with a volume of 1,256,329 shares changing hands.

A number of other research firms have also issued reports on MDLZ. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Mondelez International from $75.00 to $69.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Mondelez International in a report on Monday, March 24th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $69.00 price objective for the company. Argus lowered shares of Mondelez International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Barclays dropped their price target on Mondelez International from $69.00 to $63.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Dbs Bank cut Mondelez International from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $70.20.

Institutional Trading of Mondelez International

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Mondelez International by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 132,437,250 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,910,477,000 after purchasing an additional 931,776 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Mondelez International by 3.2% during the third 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 during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in Mondelez International by 13.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 37,529,511 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,241,637,000 after purchasing an additional 4,572,555 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Mondelez International by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 28,913,478 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,721,954,000 after purchasing an additional 708,523 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of Mondelez International by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 20,074,353 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,198,491,000 after buying an additional 975,929 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.32% of the company’s stock.

Mondelez International Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $87.31 billion, a PE ratio of 19.75, a P/E/G ratio of 4.34 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.68. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $62.85 and its 200 day moving average is $64.66.

Mondelez International (NASDAQ:MDLZ) last posted its 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%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Mondelez International, Inc. will post 2.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Mondelez International Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.79%. Mondelez International’s payout ratio is 54.97%.

Mondelez International declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to buyback $9.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 10.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

About Mondelez International

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.