The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) Shares Sold by Capital World Investors

Capital World Investors reduced its holdings in The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) by 73.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,351,000 shares of the company’s stock after selling 9,101,416 shares during the quarter. Capital World Investors’ holdings in Kraft Heinz were worth $102,909,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Kraft Heinz by 19.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 90,508,763 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,779,524,000 after acquiring an additional 14,996,486 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Kraft Heinz in the 4th quarter valued at about $324,857,000. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC grew its holdings in shares of Kraft Heinz by 96.4% during the 4th quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 2,858,253 shares of the company’s stock worth $87,777,000 after purchasing an additional 1,403,220 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Kraft Heinz in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,339,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in Kraft Heinz by 16.3% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 8,813,268 shares of the company’s stock worth $269,906,000 after buying an additional 1,238,200 shares during the period. 78.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on KHC. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Kraft Heinz from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Kraft Heinz from $31.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Kraft Heinz from $32.00 to $28.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Kraft Heinz from $33.00 to $29.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Kraft Heinz from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and twelve have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $30.67.

Kraft Heinz Stock Performance

KHC stock opened at $29.94 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The Kraft Heinz Company has a 12-month low of $27.25 and a 12-month high of $38.96. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $30.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $31.01. The firm has a market cap of $35.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.25, a P/E/G ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.44.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.06. Kraft Heinz had a net margin of 10.62% and a return on equity of 7.58%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that The Kraft Heinz Company will post 2.68 EPS for the current year.

Kraft Heinz Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.34%. Kraft Heinz’s payout ratio is currently 70.80%.

About Kraft Heinz

The Kraft Heinz Company, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and markets food and beverage products in North America and internationally. Its products include condiments and sauces, cheese and dairy products, meals, meats, refreshment beverages, coffee, and other grocery products under the Kraft, Oscar Mayer, Heinz, Philadelphia, Lunchables, Velveeta, Ore-Ida, Maxwell House, Kool-Aid, Jell-O, Heinz, ABC, Master, Quero, Kraft, Golden Circle, Wattie's, Pudliszki, and Plasmon brands.