Everence Capital Management Inc. Increases Stock Position in Mondelez International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDLZ)

Everence Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Mondelez International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDLZ) by 60.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 62,462 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 23,500 shares during the period. Everence Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Mondelez International were worth $3,731,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp increased its stake in Mondelez International by 3.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 60,151,987 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,459,239,000 after acquiring an additional 1,851,247 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Mondelez International by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 28,204,955 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,069,906,000 after purchasing an additional 341,203 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its position in Mondelez International by 14.2% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,255,657 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,344,894,000 after purchasing an additional 2,268,639 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in Mondelez International by 2.9% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 17,215,182 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,268,242,000 after buying an additional 489,068 shares during the period. Finally, Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its position in Mondelez International by 12,057.4% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 12,574,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $926,327,000 after buying an additional 12,470,573 shares in the last quarter. 78.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MDLZ shares. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Mondelez International from $79.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Redburn Atlantic began coverage on Mondelez International in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $82.00 price objective on the stock. Bank of America upped their target price on Mondelez International from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Mondelez International from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered Mondelez International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $78.00 to $67.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Mondelez International presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $79.07.

Mondelez International Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MDLZ traded up $0.58 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $60.08. The company had a trading volume of 1,800,410 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,875,156. Mondelez International, Inc. has a one year low of $58.90 and a one year high of $77.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $80.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.31, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.53. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $63.90 and its 200-day moving average price is $67.91.

Mondelez International (NASDAQ:MDLZ) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.85 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $9.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.11 billion. Mondelez International had a net margin of 10.58% and a return on equity of 17.53%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.82 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Mondelez International, Inc. will post 3.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mondelez International Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a $0.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.13%. Mondelez International’s payout ratio is 66.67%.

Mondelez International declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to buyback $9.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase up to 10.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.