MetLife Investment Management LLC Buys 17,304 Shares of The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC)

MetLife Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC - Free Report) by 8.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 229,611 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 17,304 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC's holdings in Kraft Heinz were worth $8,062,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Kraft Heinz by 11.5% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,307,598 shares of the company's stock valued at $186,350,000 after purchasing an additional 545,504 shares during the last quarter. Clifford Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Kraft Heinz by 21.4% in the 2nd 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 lifted its position in shares of Kraft Heinz by 52.5% in the 3rd quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 170,511 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,988,000 after acquiring an additional 58,665 shares in the last quarter. Easterly Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Kraft Heinz by 39.4% in the 3rd quarter. Easterly Investment Partners LLC now owns 157,479 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,529,000 after acquiring an additional 44,485 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Kraft Heinz by 1,760.8% in the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 655,312 shares of the company's stock valued at $23,008,000 after acquiring an additional 620,096 shares in the last quarter. 78.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Kraft Heinz Stock Performance

NASDAQ:KHC traded up $0.04 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $31.97. The stock had a trading volume of 5,883,760 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,002,303. The Kraft Heinz Company has a 1-year low of $30.40 and a 1-year high of $38.96. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $33.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $34.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 0.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.80, a PEG ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 0.49.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC - Get Free Report) last posted its 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 net margin of 5.24% and a return on equity of 7.46%. 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 business posted $0.72 EPS. Kraft Heinz's revenue was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that The Kraft Heinz Company will post 3.01 EPS 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. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.00%. Kraft Heinz's payout ratio is presently 144.14%.

Insider Activity at Kraft Heinz

In other Kraft Heinz news, EVP Pedro F. P. Navio sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 $5,626,122.75. This represents a 21.11 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Barclays reduced their price target 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. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Kraft Heinz from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded shares of Kraft Heinz from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their price target for the company from $40.00 to $38.00 in a research report on Friday, October 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of Kraft Heinz from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of Kraft Heinz from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their price target for the company from $39.00 to $35.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $36.55.

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.