Aviva PLC Purchases 220,044 Shares of Mondelez International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDLZ)

Aviva PLC raised its position in Mondelez International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDLZ) by 29.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 968,795 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 220,044 shares during the period. Aviva PLC’s holdings in Mondelez International were worth $57,866,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Mondelez International during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,118,755,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Mondelez International during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $256,832,000. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in Mondelez International by 2,560.0% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 3,411,179 shares of the company’s stock worth $203,749,000 after acquiring an additional 3,282,937 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its stake in shares of Mondelez International by 173.7% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 3,049,440 shares of the company’s stock worth $224,652,000 after acquiring an additional 1,935,356 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Mondelez International by 13.5% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,806,832 shares of the company’s stock valued at $526,032,000 after acquiring an additional 1,049,498 shares during the period. 78.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Mondelez International from $82.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Mondelez International from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased 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. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Mondelez International from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Mondelez International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $75.00 to $62.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $70.20.

Mondelez International Trading Down 2.3 %

Shares of MDLZ opened at $66.31 on Friday. Mondelez International, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $53.95 and a fifty-two week high of $76.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.68. The company’s fifty day moving average is $63.25 and its 200 day moving average is $64.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $85.77 billion, a PE ratio of 19.39, a P/E/G ratio of 4.34 and a beta of 0.47.

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

Mondelez International declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to buyback $9.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 10.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Mondelez International Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.47 dividend. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Mondelez International’s payout ratio is 54.97%.

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.