Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Raises Position in Mondelez International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDLZ)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. boosted its stake in Mondelez International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDLZ) by 1.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 557,546 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 6,121 shares during the quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Mondelez International were worth $33,302,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Canopy Partners LLC lifted its stake in Mondelez International by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Canopy Partners LLC now owns 13,335 shares of the company’s stock worth $982,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Hardy Reed LLC raised its position in shares of Mondelez International by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Hardy Reed LLC now owns 11,511 shares of the company’s stock valued at $848,000 after buying an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC raised its position in shares of Mondelez International by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 2,542 shares of the company’s stock valued at $187,000 after buying an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Mondelez International by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 10,499 shares of the company’s stock valued at $627,000 after buying an additional 181 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Traphagen Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Mondelez International by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Traphagen Investment Advisors LLC now owns 23,619 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,411,000 after buying an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. 78.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Mondelez International from $76.00 to $63.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on shares of Mondelez International from $67.00 to $62.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Mizuho upped their target price 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. 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. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on shares of Mondelez International from $69.00 to $63.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $69.74.

Mondelez International Price Performance

Shares of MDLZ opened at $63.95 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $61.18 and a 200-day moving average price of $65.23. Mondelez International, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $53.95 and a fifty-two week high of $76.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $82.72 billion, a PE ratio of 18.70, a PEG ratio of 4.34 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.68.

Mondelez International (NASDAQ:MDLZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share 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 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mondelez International announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to repurchase $9.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy up to 10.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Mondelez International Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $0.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.94%. Mondelez International’s payout ratio is presently 54.97%.

Mondelez International 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.