The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) Shares Sold by Financial Counselors Inc.

Financial Counselors Inc. lowered its holdings in The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) by 24.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 9,471 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,136 shares during the quarter. Financial Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Kraft Heinz were worth $291,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brookstone Capital Management raised its stake in shares of Kraft Heinz by 229.8% during the 4th quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 342,880 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,530,000 after buying an additional 238,913 shares during the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank grew its holdings in Kraft Heinz by 12.6% during the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 487,938 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,132,000 after acquiring an additional 54,656 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB raised 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 valued at $269,906,000 after acquiring an additional 1,238,200 shares in the last quarter. FLC Capital Advisors lifted its holdings in Kraft Heinz by 121.0% in the fourth quarter. FLC Capital Advisors now owns 18,653 shares of the company’s stock valued at $573,000 after acquiring an additional 10,214 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in Kraft Heinz by 511.7% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 42,706 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,312,000 after purchasing an additional 35,725 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

Kraft Heinz Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ KHC opened at $30.24 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.40. The Kraft Heinz Company has a 52 week low of $27.25 and a 52 week high of $38.96. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $29.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $31.74. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.84 earnings per share 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%. On average, equities analysts predict that The Kraft Heinz Company will post 2.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kraft Heinz Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. Kraft Heinz’s payout ratio is currently 70.80%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on KHC shares. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Kraft Heinz from $37.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Kraft Heinz from $34.00 to $30.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Bank of America cut Kraft Heinz from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $36.00 to $30.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup cut Kraft Heinz from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $34.00 to $28.00 in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on Kraft Heinz from $33.00 to $29.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and thirteen have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $30.73.

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.