Mondelez International (NASDAQ:MDLZ) Earns Overweight Rating from Analysts at Morgan Stanley

Equities researchers at Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Mondelez International (NASDAQ:MDLZ) in a report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm set an “overweight” rating and a $69.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price indicates a potential upside of 6.96% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on MDLZ. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Mondelez International from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Mondelez International from $75.00 to $69.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on shares of Mondelez International from $67.00 to $62.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Mondelez International from $61.00 to $54.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Mondelez International from $78.00 to $71.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. One equities research 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. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $69.70.

Mondelez International Price Performance

Shares of MDLZ opened at $64.51 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $83.45 billion, a PE ratio of 18.86, a P/E/G 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. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $61.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $65.06. Mondelez International has a 1-year low of $53.95 and a 1-year high of $76.06.

Mondelez International (NASDAQ:MDLZ) last announced 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 net margin of 12.68% and a return on equity of 16.75%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Mondelez International will post 2.9 EPS for the current year.

Mondelez International announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to repurchase $9.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 10.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Mondelez International by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 132,437,250 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,910,477,000 after buying an additional 931,776 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Mondelez International by 3.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 60,151,987 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,459,239,000 after buying an additional 1,851,247 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in shares of Mondelez International by 13.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 37,529,511 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,241,637,000 after buying an additional 4,572,555 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Mondelez International by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 28,913,478 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,721,954,000 after buying an additional 708,523 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Mondelez International by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 20,074,353 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,198,491,000 after buying an additional 975,929 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.32% of the company’s stock.

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.