Banco Santander S.A. Acquires Shares of 304,769 The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC)

Banco Santander S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 304,769 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,700,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KHC. Clifford Capital Partners LLC raised its position in Kraft Heinz by 21.4% during the second quarter. Clifford Capital Partners LLC now owns 454,884 shares of the company's stock valued at $14,656,000 after acquiring an additional 80,101 shares in the last quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise grew its holdings in shares of Kraft Heinz by 52.5% during the third quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 170,511 shares of the company's stock worth $5,988,000 after buying an additional 58,665 shares in the last quarter. Easterly Investment Partners LLC lifted its stake in Kraft Heinz by 39.4% in the 3rd quarter. Easterly Investment Partners LLC now owns 157,479 shares of the company's stock worth $5,529,000 after purchasing an additional 44,485 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Kraft Heinz by 13.2% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 2,006,917 shares of the company's stock worth $74,053,000 after buying an additional 234,783 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Kraft Heinz by 1,760.8% during the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 655,312 shares of the company's stock worth $23,008,000 after acquiring an additional 620,096 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.17% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Pedro F. P. Navio sold 45,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.45, for a total value of $1,505,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 168,195 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,626,122.75. This represents a 21.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Kraft Heinz Stock Up 2.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:KHC traded up $0.72 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $31.81. The stock had a trading volume of 12,404,119 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,973,891. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.66, a P/E/G ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 0.49. The firm's 50 day moving average is $34.08 and its 200-day moving average is $34.27. The Kraft Heinz Company has a 1 year low of $30.40 and a 1 year high of $38.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 1.06.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.01. Kraft Heinz had a return on equity of 7.46% and a net margin of 5.24%. The firm had revenue of $6.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.42 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.72 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that The Kraft Heinz Company will post 3.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kraft Heinz Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. Kraft Heinz's payout ratio is currently 144.14%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of Kraft Heinz from $42.00 to $38.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded Kraft Heinz from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their target price for the company from $40.00 to $38.00 in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Mizuho cut their price objective on Kraft Heinz from $43.00 to $41.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of Kraft Heinz from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Kraft Heinz from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $36.55.

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.