Cullen Capital Management LLC Lowers Holdings in Mondelez International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDLZ)

Cullen Capital Management LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Mondelez International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDLZ) by 90.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 58,898 shares of the company’s stock after selling 544,407 shares during the period. Cullen Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Mondelez International were worth $3,518,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. United Bank grew its stake in Mondelez International by 12.7% during the 3rd quarter. United Bank now owns 22,649 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,669,000 after purchasing an additional 2,549 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in shares of Mondelez International by 6.4% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 211,427 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,575,000 after buying an additional 12,697 shares in the last quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Mondelez International by 2.6% during the third quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 551,425 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,623,000 after buying an additional 14,049 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp raised its holdings in Mondelez International by 15.2% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 1,144,202 shares of the company’s stock valued at $84,294,000 after acquiring an additional 151,302 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wallace Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Mondelez International by 1.0% in the third quarter. Wallace Capital Management Inc. now owns 37,368 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,753,000 after acquiring an additional 364 shares during the last quarter. 78.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of Mondelez International from $68.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. DZ Bank downgraded Mondelez International from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $52.00 price target for the company. in a report on Friday, February 7th. Mizuho increased their price objective on Mondelez International from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Mondelez International from $82.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Mondelez International in a report on Monday, March 24th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $69.00 price objective on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $70.20.

Mondelez International Stock Down 2.3 %

Mondelez International stock opened at $66.31 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $63.25 and its 200 day moving average price is $64.61. Mondelez International, Inc. has a 1-year low of $53.95 and a 1-year high of $76.06. The company has a market cap of $85.77 billion, a PE ratio of 19.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.34 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.48.

Mondelez International (NASDAQ:MDLZ) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.65 EPS 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%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Mondelez International, Inc. will post 2.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mondelez International Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.84%. Mondelez International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.97%.

Mondelez International announced that its Board of Directors has approved 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 buy up to 10.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

About Mondelez International

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.