Mondelez International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDLZ) Short Interest Update

Mondelez International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDLZ) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totaling 32,840,000 shares, a growth of 47.8% from the September 15th total of 22,220,000 shares. Currently, 2.6% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 7,430,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.4 days. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 7,430,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.4 days. Currently, 2.6% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mondelez International

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MDLZ. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Mondelez International during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,239,834,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Mondelez International by 90.1% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 29,017,101 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,968,811,000 after purchasing an additional 13,755,181 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mondelez International during the 1st quarter valued at about $866,843,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Mondelez International by 57.6% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 9,446,774 shares of the company’s stock valued at $640,964,000 after purchasing an additional 3,454,174 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Mondelez International by 197.9% during the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 4,066,155 shares of the company’s stock valued at $274,221,000 after purchasing an additional 2,701,229 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.32% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MDLZ has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Mondelez International from $78.00 to $74.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Berenberg Bank lowered Mondelez International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $70.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group raised Mondelez International from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $66.00 to $78.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Dbs Bank raised Mondelez International from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Mondelez International from $73.00 to $72.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $70.22.

Mondelez International Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MDLZ opened at $61.97 on Thursday. Mondelez International has a fifty-two week low of $53.95 and a fifty-two week high of $71.32. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $62.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $65.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.64. The firm has a market cap of $80.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.53 and a beta of 0.45.

Mondelez International (NASDAQ:MDLZ) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 11th. The company reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter. Mondelez International had a return on equity of 15.35% and a net margin of 9.84%.The business had revenue of $7.30 billion during the quarter. On average, analysts expect that Mondelez International will post 2.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Mondelez International Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th were given a $0.50 dividend. This is a positive change from Mondelez International’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. Mondelez International’s payout ratio is presently 73.26%.

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.