HighTower Advisors LLC Cuts Stock Position in The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC)

HighTower Advisors LLC reduced its stake in shares of The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC - Free Report) by 11.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 331,272 shares of the company's stock after selling 43,542 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC's holdings in Kraft Heinz were worth $11,620,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Kraft Heinz by 47.3% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,536,214 shares of the company's stock worth $178,379,000 after purchasing an additional 1,778,263 shares in the last quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC boosted its holdings in Kraft Heinz by 387.7% during the third quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 1,455,033 shares of the company's stock valued at $51,086,000 after acquiring an additional 1,156,712 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its holdings in Kraft Heinz by 260.8% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,169,657 shares of the company's stock valued at $37,686,000 after acquiring an additional 845,490 shares during the period. Poplar Forest Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kraft Heinz during the second quarter valued at about $26,353,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in shares of Kraft Heinz by 9.7% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 9,064,592 shares of the company's stock valued at $292,061,000 after buying an additional 799,581 shares during the last quarter. 78.17% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Kraft Heinz

In other news, EVP Pedro F. P. Navio sold 45,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.45, for a total transaction of $1,505,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 168,195 shares in the company, valued at $5,626,122.75. The trade was a 21.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.32% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Kraft Heinz Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ KHC traded down $0.10 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $30.81. The company had a trading volume of 11,870,805 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,482,401. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 1.06. The Kraft Heinz Company has a one year low of $30.40 and a one year high of $38.96. The firm has a market cap of $37.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.76, a PEG ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 0.48. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $33.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $33.93.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.01. Kraft Heinz had a return on equity of 7.46% and a net margin of 5.24%. The business had revenue of $6.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.42 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.72 earnings per share. Kraft Heinz's revenue was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, 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 business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.19%. Kraft Heinz's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 144.14%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Kraft Heinz from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Stifel Nicolaus cut shares of Kraft Heinz from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $40.00 to $38.00 in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of Kraft Heinz from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $39.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Kraft Heinz from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Kraft Heinz from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target 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.