Stock Traders Purchase High Volume of Call Options on Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC)

The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Traders purchased 35,421 call options on the company. This is an increase of 68% compared to the average daily volume of 21,088 call options.

Insider Transactions at Kraft Heinz

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 transaction of $1,505,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 168,195 shares of the company’s stock, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.32% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kraft Heinz

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of KHC. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Kraft Heinz by 11.5% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,307,598 shares of the company’s stock worth $186,350,000 after acquiring an additional 545,504 shares during the last quarter. Clifford Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Kraft Heinz by 21.4% during the second quarter. Clifford Capital Partners LLC now owns 454,884 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,656,000 after purchasing an additional 80,101 shares during the last quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise increased its holdings in shares of Kraft Heinz by 52.5% in the third quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 170,511 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,988,000 after purchasing an additional 58,665 shares in the last quarter. Easterly Investment Partners LLC raised its position in Kraft Heinz by 39.4% in the 3rd quarter. Easterly Investment Partners LLC now owns 157,479 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,529,000 after purchasing an additional 44,485 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Kraft Heinz by 1,760.8% in the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 655,312 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,008,000 after buying an additional 620,096 shares during the last quarter. 78.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KHC has been the subject of several research reports. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $35.00 price target (down from $40.00) on shares of Kraft Heinz in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Kraft Heinz from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Stifel Nicolaus lowered shares of Kraft Heinz from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $40.00 to $38.00 in a research note on Friday, October 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Kraft Heinz from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on Kraft Heinz from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Kraft Heinz currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $36.55.

Kraft Heinz Stock Performance

NASDAQ:KHC traded up $0.05 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $30.60. 4,071,143 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,232,840. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.57, a P/E/G ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.48. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $32.26 and a 200 day moving average of $33.54. Kraft Heinz has a twelve month low of $30.01 and a twelve month high of $38.96.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.01. Kraft Heinz had a return on equity of 7.46% and a net margin of 5.24%. The firm had revenue of $6.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.42 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.72 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Kraft Heinz will post 3.01 EPS for the current year.

Kraft Heinz Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. Kraft Heinz’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 144.14%.

Kraft Heinz Company Profile

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.