The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) Position Raised by Banque Pictet & Cie SA

Banque Pictet & Cie SA increased its holdings in The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC - Free Report) by 10.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 90,000 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 8,787 shares during the period. Banque Pictet & Cie SA's holdings in Kraft Heinz were worth $2,764,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KHC. AMF Tjanstepension AB grew its stake in shares of Kraft Heinz by 143.4% during the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 245,522 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,620,000 after buying an additional 144,646 shares during the period. CX Institutional acquired a new stake in Kraft Heinz during the third quarter worth about $340,000. SPC Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Kraft Heinz by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter. SPC Financial Inc. now owns 13,835 shares of the company's stock valued at $486,000 after purchasing an additional 825 shares in the last quarter. Bfsg LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kraft Heinz in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,476,000. Finally, Bleakley Financial Group LLC increased its position in Kraft Heinz by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 18,870 shares of the company's stock worth $663,000 after purchasing an additional 758 shares in the last quarter. 78.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on KHC shares. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Kraft Heinz from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered Kraft Heinz from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $39.00 to $35.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Kraft Heinz from $37.00 to $31.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Bank of America downgraded shares of Kraft Heinz from a "buy" rating to an "underperform" rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $36.00 to $30.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Kraft Heinz from $34.00 to $30.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and twelve have given a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Kraft Heinz presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $30.86.

Kraft Heinz Stock Performance

Shares of Kraft Heinz stock traded up $0.40 on Tuesday, reaching $29.32. 11,629,787 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,830,322. The Kraft Heinz Company has a 1-year low of $27.25 and a 1-year high of $38.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 1.06. The company's 50-day moving average is $29.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $32.67. The firm has a market cap of $35.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.41, a P/E/G ratio of 3.74 and a beta of 0.47.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.06. Kraft Heinz had a net margin of 5.24% and a return on equity of 7.46%. As a group, research analysts expect that The Kraft Heinz Company will post 3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kraft Heinz Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Kraft Heinz's payout ratio is currently 144.14%.

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.