Prudential Financial Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in Mondelez International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDLZ)

Prudential Financial Inc. cut its stake in Mondelez International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDLZ - Free Report) by 14.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 896,528 shares of the company's stock after selling 153,650 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc. owned about 0.07% of Mondelez International worth $53,550,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MDLZ. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Mondelez International by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 132,437,250 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,910,477,000 after purchasing an additional 931,776 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Mondelez International by 3.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 60,151,987 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,459,239,000 after buying an additional 1,851,247 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mondelez International by 1.2% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 28,204,955 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,069,906,000 after acquiring an additional 341,203 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mondelez International by 14.2% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,255,657 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,344,894,000 after acquiring an additional 2,268,639 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of Mondelez International by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 10,354,236 shares of the company's stock worth $618,458,000 after acquiring an additional 326,177 shares during the last quarter. 78.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Remove Ads

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on MDLZ shares. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Mondelez International in a research note on Monday, March 24th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $69.00 price target for the company. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Mondelez International from $82.00 to $70.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Mondelez International from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $75.00 to $62.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Mondelez International from $76.00 to $63.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Mondelez International from $61.00 to $54.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $69.50.

Mondelez International Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MDLZ traded up $0.22 during trading on Friday, hitting $67.72. 11,564,303 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,922,538. Mondelez International, Inc. has a 12-month low of $53.95 and a 12-month high of $76.06. The company has a market cap of $87.60 billion, a PE ratio of 19.80, a P/E/G ratio of 4.34 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $62.25 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $64.75. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58.

Mondelez International (NASDAQ:MDLZ - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.66 by ($0.01). Mondelez International had a return on equity of 16.75% and a net margin of 12.68%. On average, analysts forecast that Mondelez International, Inc. will post 2.9 EPS for the current year.

Mondelez International declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to buyback $9.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to buy up to 10.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Mondelez International Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 14th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.78%. Mondelez International's payout ratio is 54.97%.

About Mondelez International

Mondelez International, Inc, through its subsidiaries, manufactures, markets, and sells snack food and beverage products in the Latin America, North America, Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Europe. It provides biscuits and baked snacks, including cookies, crackers, salted snacks, snack bars, and cakes and pastries; chocolates; and gums and candies, as well as various cheese and grocery, and powdered beverage products.