MML Investors Services LLC Cuts Stock Position in Kellanova (NYSE:K)

MML Investors Services LLC lowered its stake in shares of Kellanova (NYSE:K - Free Report) by 75.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 10,919 shares of the company's stock after selling 33,801 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC's holdings in Kellanova were worth $881,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Kellanova by 57.2% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 467 shares of the company's stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its holdings in shares of Kellanova by 2.8% in the second quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 17,449 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,006,000 after buying an additional 474 shares during the last quarter. Family Firm Inc. bought a new stake in Kellanova during the 2nd quarter worth about $29,000. Easterly Investment Partners LLC increased its position in Kellanova by 54.7% in the 2nd quarter. Easterly Investment Partners LLC now owns 174,239 shares of the company's stock valued at $10,050,000 after acquiring an additional 61,614 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bristlecone Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Kellanova by 17.1% during the second quarter. Bristlecone Advisors LLC now owns 64,014 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,692,000 after purchasing an additional 9,350 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.87% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kellanova news, major shareholder Kellogg W. K. Foundation Trust sold 114,583 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.70, for a total value of $9,246,848.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 49,107,859 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,963,004,221.30. The trade was a 0.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 1,031,247 shares of company stock valued at $83,327,049 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.80% of the company's stock.

Kellanova Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE K traded up $0.16 during trading on Friday, hitting $80.50. The stock had a trading volume of 5,307,172 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,945,288. Kellanova has a 12 month low of $52.46 and a 12 month high of $81.34. The company has a market capitalization of $27.75 billion, a PE ratio of 27.66, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.38. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $80.81 and a two-hundred day moving average of $73.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.53.

Kellanova (NYSE:K - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.85 by $0.06. Kellanova had a net margin of 7.85% and a return on equity of 37.05%. The firm had revenue of $3.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.16 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.03 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Kellanova will post 3.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kellanova Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. Kellanova's payout ratio is presently 78.35%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. BNP Paribas lowered shares of Kellanova from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $83.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Argus downgraded Kellanova from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Kellanova in a research note on Saturday, December 14th. They set a "hold" rating for the company. Finally, DA Davidson lowered shares of Kellanova from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $80.00 to $83.50 in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $76.35.

About Kellanova

Kellanova, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and markets snacks and convenience foods in North America, Europe, Latin America, the Asia Pacific, the Middle East, Australia, and Africa. Its principal products include crackers, crisps, savory snacks, toaster pastries, cereal bars, granola bars and bites, ready-to-eat cereals, frozen waffles, veggie foods, and noodles.