LPL Financial LLC Raises Holdings in The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC)

LPL Financial LLC grew its position in shares of The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC - Free Report) by 8.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 655,747 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 50,040 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC owned about 0.05% of Kraft Heinz worth $20,138,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of KHC. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Kraft Heinz during the 3rd quarter valued at $411,304,000. State Street Corp raised its stake 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 buying an additional 6,366,732 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Kraft Heinz by 11.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,150,328 shares of the company's stock worth $669,821,000 after buying an additional 1,944,019 shares during the period. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC grew its holdings 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 worth $87,777,000 after acquiring an additional 1,403,220 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Kraft Heinz in the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,339,000. 78.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Kraft Heinz Trading Down 2.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ KHC traded down $0.82 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $30.00. The company's stock had a trading volume of 9,125,892 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,805,980. The Kraft Heinz Company has a one year low of $27.25 and a one year high of $38.96. 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 $35.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.44. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $30.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $31.60.

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Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.06. Kraft Heinz had a return on equity of 7.58% and a net margin of 10.62%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.33%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. Kraft Heinz's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 70.80%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Kraft Heinz from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Mizuho cut Kraft Heinz from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $38.00 to $31.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an "in-line" rating and set a $35.00 price objective (down from $38.00) on shares of Kraft Heinz in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Kraft Heinz from $31.00 to $30.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a "sell" rating and issued a $27.00 price objective (down previously from $28.00) on shares of Kraft Heinz in a report on Friday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and twelve have given a hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $30.67.

About Kraft Heinz

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.