The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) Holdings Reduced by Smith Moore & CO.

Smith Moore & CO. lessened its holdings in shares of The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) by 2.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 26,932 shares of the company’s stock after selling 611 shares during the quarter. Smith Moore & CO.’s holdings in Kraft Heinz were worth $827,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in KHC. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Kraft Heinz by 19.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 90,508,763 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,779,524,000 after buying an additional 14,996,486 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Kraft Heinz during the fourth quarter worth approximately $324,857,000. State Street Corp lifted its position in Kraft Heinz by 16.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 44,400,402 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,558,898,000 after purchasing an additional 6,366,732 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Kraft Heinz by 11.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,150,328 shares of the company’s stock valued at $669,821,000 after purchasing an additional 1,944,019 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC increased its position in shares of Kraft Heinz by 96.4% during the 4th quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 2,858,253 shares of the company’s stock valued at $87,777,000 after purchasing an additional 1,403,220 shares during the period. 78.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on KHC. TD Cowen cut their price objective on Kraft Heinz from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of Kraft Heinz from $32.00 to $28.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “in-line” rating and issued a $35.00 price objective (down previously from $38.00) on shares of Kraft Heinz in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Kraft Heinz from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Kraft Heinz in a research report on Monday, March 24th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $29.00 price target on the stock. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and twelve have given a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Kraft Heinz currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $30.67.

Kraft Heinz Trading Down 3.7 %

NASDAQ:KHC opened at $29.68 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $30.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $31.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The stock has a market cap of $35.42 billion, a PE ratio of 13.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.44. The Kraft Heinz Company has a fifty-two week low of $27.25 and a fifty-two week high of $38.96.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.06. Kraft Heinz had a net margin of 10.62% and a return on equity of 7.58%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that The Kraft Heinz Company will post 2.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kraft Heinz Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.39%. Kraft Heinz’s dividend payout ratio is 70.80%.

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.