Mondelez International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDLZ) Shares Purchased by Blue Trust Inc.

Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in Mondelez International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDLZ) by 17.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 51,196 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,508 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Mondelez International were worth $3,058,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Mondelez International by 3.2% in 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 period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Mondelez International by 1.2% in the third 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 during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Mondelez International by 14.2% in 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 lifted its stake in Mondelez International by 2.9% in 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 stake in 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 valued at $926,327,000 after buying an additional 12,470,573 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.32% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MDLZ has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group cut Mondelez International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the company from $75.00 to $62.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Bank of America raised their target price on Mondelez International from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on Mondelez International from $79.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on Mondelez International from $67.00 to $62.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $61.00 price objective (down from $74.00) on shares of Mondelez International in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $73.06.

Mondelez International Price Performance

Shares of Mondelez International stock opened at $57.42 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $60.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $66.94. Mondelez International, Inc. has a 52 week low of $55.97 and a 52 week high of $77.20. The stock has a market cap of $76.78 billion, a PE ratio of 20.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.54.

Mondelez International (NASDAQ:MDLZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.99 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.14. Mondelez International had a net margin of 10.58% and a return on equity of 17.53%. The firm had revenue of $9.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.11 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.82 earnings per share. Mondelez International’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Mondelez International, Inc. will post 3.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mondelez International Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a $0.47 dividend. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.27%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. Mondelez International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.67%.

Mondelez International declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to repurchase $9.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 10.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.