Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC Sells 8,436 Shares of The Campbell Soup Company (NASDAQ:CPB)

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC lessened its stake in The Campbell Soup Company (NASDAQ:CPB - Free Report) by 13.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 54,402 shares of the company's stock after selling 8,436 shares during the period. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC's holdings in Campbell Soup were worth $2,278,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of CPB. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Campbell Soup by 1,593.8% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,904,440 shares of the company's stock worth $91,623,000 after acquiring an additional 1,792,005 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Campbell Soup by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 9,247,213 shares of the company's stock worth $387,273,000 after purchasing an additional 531,281 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Campbell Soup in the fourth quarter worth about $21,312,000. Amundi increased its holdings in Campbell Soup by 23.9% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,958,238 shares of the company's stock valued at $76,823,000 after purchasing an additional 377,307 shares during the period. Finally, Galvin Gaustad & Stein LLC bought a new position in Campbell Soup during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $14,769,000. Institutional investors own 52.35% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CPB has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Citigroup reduced their target price on Campbell Soup from $39.00 to $37.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Campbell Soup from $47.00 to $40.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Bank of America dropped their price target on Campbell Soup from $45.00 to $41.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Campbell Soup from $43.00 to $40.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on Campbell Soup from $51.00 to $44.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $44.86.

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Campbell Soup Stock Performance

Shares of CPB stock traded up $0.13 on Tuesday, reaching $38.18. The stock had a trading volume of 1,978,160 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,626,344. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a current ratio of 0.91. The Campbell Soup Company has a 1 year low of $36.92 and a 1 year high of $52.81. The stock has a market cap of $11.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.15. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $39.06 and a 200 day simple moving average of $43.32.

Campbell Soup (NASDAQ:CPB - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, March 5th. The company reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.01. Campbell Soup had a return on equity of 23.79% and a net margin of 5.57%. The business had revenue of $2.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.74 billion. Campbell Soup's revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that The Campbell Soup Company will post 3.15 EPS for the current year.

Campbell Soup Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 28th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.09%. Campbell Soup's dividend payout ratio is currently 90.17%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Campbell Soup news, EVP Anthony Sanzio sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.90, for a total value of $83,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,551 shares in the company, valued at $693,486.90. This represents a 10.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 20.19% of the company's stock.

Campbell Soup Profile

Campbell Soup Company, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and markets food and beverage products in the United States and internationally. The company operates through Meals & Beverages and Snacks segments. The Meals & Beverages segment engages in the retail and foodservice businesses in the United States and Canada.