Natixis Purchases 59,679 Shares of The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC)

Natixis increased its position in shares of The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC - Free Report) by 25.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 296,892 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 59,679 shares during the quarter. Natixis' holdings in Kraft Heinz were worth $9,118,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Kraft Heinz by 19.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 90,508,763 shares of the company's stock worth $2,779,524,000 after purchasing an additional 14,996,486 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Kraft Heinz by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,745,734 shares of the company's stock valued at $604,644,000 after purchasing an additional 595,406 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Kraft Heinz during the fourth quarter worth approximately $324,857,000. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in shares of Kraft Heinz by 16.3% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 8,813,268 shares of the company's stock valued at $269,906,000 after buying an additional 1,238,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Kraft Heinz by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,525,110 shares of the company's stock valued at $200,369,000 after acquiring an additional 174,706 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 78.17% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on KHC. Cfra Research cut shares of Kraft Heinz from a "moderate buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "sell" rating and issued a $27.00 price objective (down from $28.00) on shares of Kraft Heinz in a report on Friday, April 4th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Kraft Heinz from $37.00 to $31.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Kraft Heinz from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Mizuho cut shares of Kraft Heinz from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $38.00 to $31.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and fourteen have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $30.69.

Kraft Heinz Price Performance

KHC stock traded down $0.15 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $29.49. 8,152,474 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,067,237. The Kraft Heinz Company has a 52 week low of $27.25 and a 52 week high of $38.96. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $30.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $30.96. 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 capitalization of $35.19 billion, a PE ratio of 13.05, a P/E/G ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.44.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.06. Kraft Heinz had a return on equity of 7.58% and a net margin of 10.62%. As a group, analysts expect that The Kraft Heinz Company will post 2.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kraft Heinz Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.43%. Kraft Heinz's payout ratio is 70.80%.

Kraft Heinz 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.