Empirical Finance LLC Reduces Position in Kellanova (NYSE:K)

Empirical Finance LLC reduced its position in shares of Kellanova (NYSE:K) by 6.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 8,351 shares of the company’s stock after selling 540 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Kellanova were worth $676,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Investors Research Corp increased its holdings in Kellanova by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 12,991 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,049,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in shares of Kellanova by 26.2% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 631 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares in the last quarter. MCF Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Kellanova by 48.8% during the 3rd quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 418 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. S.A. Mason LLC lifted its stake in Kellanova by 7.6% in the 3rd quarter. S.A. Mason LLC now owns 1,987 shares of the company’s stock valued at $160,000 after buying an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Kellanova by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 8,502 shares of the company’s stock valued at $690,000 after buying an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.87% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kellanova

In other news, major shareholder Kellogg W. K. Foundation Trust sold 114,583 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.21, for a total value of $9,305,285.43. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 49,222,442 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,997,354,514.82. This trade represents a 0.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,145,830 shares of company stock valued at $93,146,812. Company insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on K. BNP Paribas cut Kellanova from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $83.00 price target for the company. in a report on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Kellanova in a report on Saturday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $77.96.

Kellanova Price Performance

K opened at $82.27 on Tuesday. Kellanova has a 1 year low of $52.46 and a 1 year high of $82.31. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $81.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $79.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.36 billion, a PE ratio of 21.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.81.

Kellanova (NYSE:K) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by $0.61. Kellanova had a net margin of 10.53% and a return on equity of 37.25%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Kellanova will post 3.91 EPS for the current year.

Kellanova Company Profile

Kellanova, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and markets snacks and convenience foods in North America, Europe, Latin America, the Asia Pacific, the Middle East, Australia, and Africa. Its principal products include crackers, crisps, savory snacks, toaster pastries, cereal bars, granola bars and bites, ready-to-eat cereals, frozen waffles, veggie foods, and noodles.