Mondelez International Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NASDAQ:MDLZ)

Mondelez International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDLZ) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Traders bought 3,826 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 24% compared to the average volume of 3,083 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on MDLZ shares. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $73.00 price objective on shares of Mondelez International in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Mondelez International from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Mondelez International in a research note on Friday, May 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Mondelez International from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Freedom Capital cut Mondelez International from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold 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 $67.30.

Mondelez International Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ MDLZ traded up $0.32 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $61.95. The company had a trading volume of 1,639,069 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,392,318. The stock has a market cap of $79.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.77, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.39. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $61.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $60.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. Mondelez International has a 12 month low of $51.20 and a 12 month high of $66.65.

Mondelez International (NASDAQ:MDLZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 28th. The company reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $9.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.21 billion. Mondelez International had a return on equity of 14.07% and a net margin of 8.86%.The firm’s revenue was up 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.73 earnings per share. Mondelez International has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.970-3.120 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Mondelez International will post 3.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Mondelez International Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 30th. This is a positive change from Mondelez International’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Mondelez International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 76.47%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Mondelez International news, CEO Dirk Van de Put sold 133,580 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.08, for a total value of $8,559,806.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,326,488 shares in the company, valued at $85,001,351.04. This represents a 9.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.45% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mondelez International

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. J.Safra Asset Management Corp acquired a new position in Mondelez International in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Advocate Investing Services LLC acquired a new stake in Mondelez International during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. JPL Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Mondelez International in the 3rd quarter worth about $32,000. Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Mondelez International in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, MV Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Mondelez International in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Institutional investors own 78.32% of the company’s stock.

Mondelez International Company Profile

Mondelez International, Inc is a global snack-food company headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. The company develops, manufactures, markets and distributes branded snacks, including biscuits, cookies, crackers, chocolate, candy, baked snacks and powdered beverages.

Its portfolio includes well-known brands such as Oreo, Ritz, Chips Ahoy!, belVita, Cadbury, Milka, Toblerone, Sour Patch Kids, Trident and Clif Bar. Mondelez sells its products through grocery stores, convenience stores, mass merchandisers, e-commerce platforms and other retail channels.

Mondelez was established in 2012 following the separation of Kraft Foods’ global snacks business from its North American grocery operations.