Scotia Capital Inc. Sells 18,162 Shares of The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC)

Scotia Capital Inc. decreased its position in The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC - Free Report) by 13.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 119,854 shares of the company's stock after selling 18,162 shares during the quarter. Scotia Capital Inc.'s holdings in Kraft Heinz were worth $3,681,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of KHC. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Kraft Heinz by 19.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 90,508,763 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,779,524,000 after acquiring an additional 14,996,486 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Kraft Heinz by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,745,734 shares of the company's stock valued at $604,644,000 after purchasing an additional 595,406 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Kraft Heinz during the fourth quarter worth about $324,857,000. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in shares of Kraft Heinz by 16.3% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 8,813,268 shares of the company's stock valued at $269,906,000 after purchasing an additional 1,238,200 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Kraft Heinz by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,601,292 shares of the company's stock worth $172,016,000 after buying an additional 293,694 shares in the last quarter. 78.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Kraft Heinz from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Kraft Heinz from $32.00 to $28.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of Kraft Heinz from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Mizuho lowered Kraft Heinz from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $38.00 to $31.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Evercore ISI reiterated an "in-line" rating and issued a $35.00 price objective (down previously from $38.00) on shares of Kraft Heinz in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and twelve have assigned a hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $30.67.

Kraft Heinz Price Performance

NASDAQ KHC traded up $0.59 on Thursday, hitting $29.40. 3,320,518 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,022,999. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The Kraft Heinz Company has a 52 week low of $27.25 and a 52 week high of $38.96. The stock has a market cap of $35.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.02, a P/E/G ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.44. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $29.97 and a 200-day moving average of $31.16.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 earnings per share for the current year.

Kraft Heinz Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.44%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. Kraft Heinz's payout ratio is 70.80%.

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.