Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Trims Stock Holdings in Mondelez International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDLZ)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. lowered its stake in Mondelez International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDLZ) by 27.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 15,976 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,931 shares during the quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings in Mondelez International were worth $954,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Mondelez International in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,118,755,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Mondelez International in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $256,832,000. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in Mondelez International by 2,560.0% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 3,411,179 shares of the company’s stock worth $203,749,000 after purchasing an additional 3,282,937 shares in the last quarter. Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP purchased a new position in shares of Mondelez International during the third quarter worth $219,045,000. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP acquired a new stake in shares of Mondelez International in the third quarter valued at $159,823,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.32% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on MDLZ. Dbs Bank lowered Mondelez International from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Mondelez International from $82.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Mondelez International from $76.00 to $63.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on shares of Mondelez International from $67.00 to $62.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Mondelez International from $69.00 to $63.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Mondelez International has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $69.50.

Mondelez International Stock Up 0.3 %

MDLZ stock opened at $67.72 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $87.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.80, a PEG ratio of 4.34 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. Mondelez International, Inc. has a twelve month low of $53.95 and a twelve month high of $76.06. The company’s 50 day moving average is $62.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $64.75.

Mondelez International (NASDAQ:MDLZ) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by ($0.01). Mondelez International had a net margin of 12.68% and a return on equity of 16.75%. Research analysts expect that Mondelez International, Inc. will post 2.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mondelez International Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.47 dividend. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.78%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Mondelez International’s payout ratio is currently 54.97%.

Mondelez International declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to buyback $9.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to buy up to 10.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Mondelez International Company Profile

Mondelez International, Inc, through its subsidiaries, manufactures, markets, and sells snack food and beverage products in the Latin America, North America, Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Europe. It provides biscuits and baked snacks, including cookies, crackers, salted snacks, snack bars, and cakes and pastries; chocolates; and gums and candies, as well as various cheese and grocery, and powdered beverage products.