National Pension Service Raises Stock Position in Mondelez International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDLZ)

National Pension Service grew its holdings in Mondelez International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDLZ) by 7.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,885,037 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 197,115 shares during the period. National Pension Service’s holdings in Mondelez International were worth $172,323,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp raised its stake in Mondelez International by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 60,151,987 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,459,239,000 after purchasing an additional 1,851,247 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Mondelez International by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 28,204,955 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,069,906,000 after buying an additional 341,203 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Mondelez International by 14.2% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,255,657 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,344,894,000 after buying an additional 2,268,639 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in shares of Mondelez International by 2.9% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 17,215,182 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,268,242,000 after buying an additional 489,068 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Mondelez International by 12,057.4% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 12,574,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $926,327,000 after buying an additional 12,470,573 shares in the last quarter. 78.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mondelez International Stock Performance

Mondelez International stock opened at $63.45 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $82.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.34 and a beta of 0.54. Mondelez International, Inc. has a 1-year low of $53.95 and a 1-year high of $76.06. The company’s 50-day moving average is $59.21 and its 200 day moving average is $65.79.

Mondelez International (NASDAQ:MDLZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share (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%. Research analysts forecast that Mondelez International, Inc. will post 2.9 EPS for the current year.

Mondelez International Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 14th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.47 dividend. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Mondelez International’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.97%.

Mondelez International announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to repurchase $9.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 10.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MDLZ. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Mondelez International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $75.00 to $62.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Mondelez International from $61.00 to $54.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. DZ Bank downgraded Mondelez International from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $52.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Barclays cut their price target on Mondelez International from $69.00 to $63.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on Mondelez International from $75.00 to $69.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $69.74.

Mondelez International Company 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.