Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Purchases 97,509 Shares of The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC)

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) by 6.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,510,291 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 97,509 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Kraft Heinz were worth $46,230,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KHC. New York Life Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Kraft Heinz by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 130,075 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,995,000 after acquiring an additional 361 shares during the period. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC lifted its position in Kraft Heinz by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 7,265 shares of the company’s stock valued at $223,000 after purchasing an additional 366 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. boosted its holdings in Kraft Heinz by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 35,735 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,097,000 after purchasing an additional 370 shares during the last quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC grew its position in Kraft Heinz by 20.1% in the 4th quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,274 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,000 after purchasing an additional 380 shares during the period. Finally, Cohen Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Kraft Heinz by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Cohen Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,266 shares of the company’s stock valued at $315,000 after buying an additional 487 shares during the last quarter. 78.17% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on KHC shares. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Kraft Heinz from $31.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Kraft Heinz from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price 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. Citigroup cut shares of Kraft Heinz from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $34.00 to $28.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on Kraft Heinz from $33.00 to $29.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and thirteen have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $30.73.

Kraft Heinz Price Performance

Shares of Kraft Heinz stock opened at $30.24 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $36.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.38, a PEG ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $29.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $31.71. The Kraft Heinz Company has a 52 week low of $27.25 and a 52 week high of $38.96.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.06. Kraft Heinz had a return on equity of 7.58% and a net margin of 10.62%. As a group, analysts expect that The Kraft Heinz Company will post 2.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kraft Heinz Announces Dividend

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

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.