27,364 Shares in The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) Acquired by Ritholtz Wealth Management

Ritholtz Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 27,364 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $840,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in KHC. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Kraft Heinz in the 3rd quarter valued at $411,304,000. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Kraft Heinz by 16.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 44,400,402 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,558,898,000 after buying an additional 6,366,732 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Kraft Heinz by 11.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,150,328 shares of the company's stock worth $669,821,000 after buying an additional 1,944,019 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in Kraft Heinz by 16.3% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 8,813,268 shares of the company's stock worth $269,906,000 after acquiring an additional 1,238,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in Kraft Heinz by 1,139.3% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,273,579 shares of the company's stock valued at $39,112,000 after acquiring an additional 1,170,814 shares in the last quarter. 78.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Kraft Heinz Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of KHC traded up $0.30 during trading on Monday, reaching $29.27. 7,978,023 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,205,660. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $30.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $33.22. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The Kraft Heinz Company has a twelve month low of $28.37 and a twelve month high of $38.96. The stock has a market cap of $35.39 billion, a PE ratio of 26.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.48.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.01. Kraft Heinz had a return on equity of 7.46% and a net margin of 5.24%. The company had revenue of $6.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.42 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.72 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that The Kraft Heinz Company will post 3 earnings per share for the current year.

Kraft Heinz Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th were given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.47%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. Kraft Heinz's dividend payout ratio is currently 144.14%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on KHC shares. Stifel Nicolaus lowered shares of Kraft Heinz from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $40.00 to $38.00 in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Kraft Heinz from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Evercore ISI restated an "in-line" rating and issued a $35.00 target price (down from $38.00) on shares of Kraft Heinz in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays reduced their price target on Kraft Heinz from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of Kraft Heinz from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Kraft Heinz has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $35.23.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Pedro F. P. Navio sold 45,000 shares of Kraft Heinz stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.45, for a total value of $1,505,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 168,195 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,626,122.75. This trade represents a 21.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.37% of the company's stock.

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.