Berkshire Asset Management LLC PA Lowers Position in The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC)

Berkshire Asset Management LLC PA reduced its stake in The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) by 23.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 139,785 shares of the company’s stock after selling 43,024 shares during the quarter. Berkshire Asset Management LLC PA’s holdings in Kraft Heinz were worth $4,097,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sawyer & Company Inc purchased a new position in Kraft Heinz in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Kraft Heinz during the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in shares of Kraft Heinz in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Kraft Heinz by 191.0% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 969 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 636 shares during the period. Finally, R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Kraft Heinz in the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on KHC shares. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Kraft Heinz from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. TD Cowen decreased their price target on Kraft Heinz from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Evercore ISI restated an “in-line” rating and issued a $35.00 price objective (down previously from $38.00) on shares of Kraft Heinz in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Mizuho cut shares of Kraft Heinz from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $38.00 to $31.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Kraft Heinz from $37.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and twelve have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Kraft Heinz presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $30.86.

Kraft Heinz Price Performance

Kraft Heinz stock opened at $31.28 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.38 billion, a PE ratio of 13.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.40. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $29.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $32.33. The Kraft Heinz Company has a 12 month low of $27.25 and a 12 month high of $38.96.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 7.58% and a net margin of 10.62%. Equities analysts predict that The Kraft Heinz Company will post 2.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Kraft Heinz Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.12%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Kraft Heinz’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.