Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Reduces Position in The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC)

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lessened its stake in The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC - Free Report) by 3.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 398,879 shares of the company's stock after selling 13,869 shares during the quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA's holdings in Kraft Heinz were worth $12,250,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. CreativeOne Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Kraft Heinz in the third quarter valued at $231,000. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its stake in Kraft Heinz by 138.8% in the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 34,751 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,220,000 after acquiring an additional 20,200 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its stake in Kraft Heinz by 3,129.1% in the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 12,109 shares of the company's stock valued at $425,000 after acquiring an additional 11,734 shares during the last quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC raised its position in Kraft Heinz by 9.8% during the third quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC now owns 473,891 shares of the company's stock worth $16,638,000 after acquiring an additional 42,323 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kraft Heinz in the third quarter valued at about $411,304,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.17% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KHC has been the subject of several research reports. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Kraft Heinz from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Kraft Heinz from $37.00 to $31.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Kraft Heinz from $33.00 to $29.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Kraft Heinz from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Citigroup downgraded shares of Kraft Heinz from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $34.00 to $28.00 in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and thirteen have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $30.73.

Remove Ads

Kraft Heinz Trading Up 2.3 %

Kraft Heinz stock traded up $0.68 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $30.81. The stock had a trading volume of 11,917,982 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,803,238. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.77 billion, a PE ratio of 13.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 1.06. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $30.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $31.60. The Kraft Heinz Company has a twelve month low of $27.25 and a twelve month high of $38.96.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.06. Kraft Heinz had a net margin of 10.62% and a return on equity of 7.58%. Analysts expect that The Kraft Heinz Company will post 2.68 EPS for the current year.

Kraft Heinz Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.19%. Kraft Heinz's payout ratio is currently 70.80%.

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.