Franklin Resources Inc. Purchases 1,049,498 Shares of Mondelez International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDLZ)

Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Mondelez International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDLZ) by 13.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,806,832 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,049,498 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned about 0.66% of Mondelez International worth $526,032,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. United Bank boosted its position in shares of Mondelez International by 12.7% in the 3rd quarter. United Bank now owns 22,649 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,669,000 after purchasing an additional 2,549 shares in the last quarter. Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY boosted its holdings in Mondelez International by 25.6% in the third quarter. Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY now owns 3,993 shares of the company’s stock worth $294,000 after acquiring an additional 815 shares in the last quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH acquired a new stake in Mondelez International in the third quarter worth about $2,337,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Mondelez International during the third quarter worth about $47,000. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mondelez International during the third quarter valued at about $225,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.32% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on MDLZ. DZ Bank cut shares of Mondelez International from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $52.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Mondelez International in a report on Monday, March 24th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $69.00 price objective on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Mondelez International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $75.00 to $62.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Citigroup dropped their price target on Mondelez International from $78.00 to $71.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Mondelez International from $56.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $69.50.

Mondelez International Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ MDLZ opened at $67.85 on Tuesday. Mondelez International, Inc. has a 52-week low of $53.95 and a 52-week high of $76.06. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $62.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $64.70. The firm has a market cap of $87.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.34 and a beta of 0.50.

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

Mondelez International announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to buyback $9.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 10.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Mondelez International Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 14th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.47 dividend. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.77%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Mondelez International’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.97%.

About Mondelez International

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.