Perpetual Ltd Cuts Holdings in The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC)

Perpetual Ltd reduced its position in The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) by 36.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,292 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,323 shares during the quarter. Perpetual Ltd’s holdings in Kraft Heinz were worth $285,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Kraft Heinz by 16.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 44,400,402 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,558,898,000 after purchasing an additional 6,366,732 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Kraft Heinz by 11.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,150,328 shares of the company’s stock valued at $669,821,000 after purchasing an additional 1,944,019 shares in the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Kraft Heinz in the 3rd quarter valued at $411,304,000. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in Kraft Heinz by 9.7% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 9,064,592 shares of the company’s stock valued at $292,061,000 after purchasing an additional 799,581 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in Kraft Heinz by 16.3% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 8,813,268 shares of the company’s stock valued at $269,906,000 after purchasing an additional 1,238,200 shares in the last quarter. 78.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $35.00 price target (down from $40.00) on shares of Kraft Heinz in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded Kraft Heinz from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $39.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Evercore ISI restated an “in-line” rating and set a $35.00 target price (down from $38.00) on shares of Kraft Heinz in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Kraft Heinz from $35.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their target price on Kraft Heinz from $43.00 to $41.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $35.23.

Kraft Heinz Price Performance

NASDAQ:KHC opened at $29.07 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $35.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 0.48. The Kraft Heinz Company has a one year low of $28.37 and a one year high of $38.96. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $30.62 and a 200 day simple moving average of $33.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 1.06.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.01. Kraft Heinz had a net margin of 5.24% and a return on equity of 7.46%. The firm had revenue of $6.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.72 earnings per share. Kraft Heinz’s revenue was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that The Kraft Heinz Company will post 3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kraft Heinz Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.50%. Kraft Heinz’s dividend payout ratio is currently 144.14%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kraft Heinz news, EVP Pedro F. P. Navio sold 45,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.45, for a total value of $1,505,250.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 168,195 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,626,122.75. This trade represents a 21.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.