Mondelez International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDLZ) Stock Now Rated "Moderate Buy" by Wall Street Brokerages

Key Points

• Analyst sentiment is moderately positive: 17 of 27 firms rate Mondelez a buy and 10 rate it hold, with an average one-year price target of $69.30. Recent firms raised targets as high as $75.
• Quarterly earnings beat expectations: Mondelez reported EPS of $0.78 versus forecasts of $0.71, while revenue of $9.97 billion narrowly missed estimates; revenue rose 2.3% year over year.
• Insiders have been selling shares: CEO Dirk Van de Put sold 133,580 shares for about $8.56 million under a pre-arranged trading plan. Insiders sold 392,150 shares worth roughly $25.9 million over the past 90 days.

Shares of Mondelez International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDLZ - Get Free Report) have received a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty-seven research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $69.30.

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Mondelez International from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, October 30th. HSBC boosted their target price on Mondelez International from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $74.00 price target on Mondelez International in a research note on Friday, October 30th. BNP Paribas Exane increased their price target on Mondelez International from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, October 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $75.00 price target on shares of Mondelez International in a report on Friday, October 30th.

Insider Activity at Mondelez International

In related news, CEO Dirk Van de Put sold 133,580 shares of Mondelez International stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.08, for a total value of $8,559,806.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,326,488 shares in the company, valued at approximately $85,001,351.04. This trade represents a 9.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 392,150 shares of company stock valued at $25,893,046. 0.45% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mondelez International

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp grew its stake in Mondelez International by 0.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 60,134,627 shares of the company's stock worth $3,507,872,000 after purchasing an additional 555,020 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG increased its holdings in shares of Mondelez International by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 13,016,006 shares of the company's stock valued at $752,846,000 after acquiring an additional 140,351 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Mondelez International by 10.8% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,435,171 shares of the company's stock worth $543,900,000 after purchasing an additional 916,235 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank boosted its position in Mondelez International by 6.8% during the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 3,786,924 shares of the company's stock valued at $218,278,000 after purchasing an additional 241,100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Mondelez International by 0.7% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,777,181 shares of the company's stock valued at $218,472,000 after purchasing an additional 25,926 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.32% of the company's stock.

Mondelez International Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MDLZ traded up $0.98 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $67.54. 6,128,804 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,956,488. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $62.55 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $60.79. The company has a market capitalization of $85.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.34. Mondelez International has a 52-week low of $51.20 and a 52-week high of $68.75. The company has a quick ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Mondelez International (NASDAQ:MDLZ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 29th. The company reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.07. Mondelez International had a return on equity of 14.18% and a net margin of 10.22%. The firm had revenue of $9.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.98 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.73 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Mondelez International will post 3.06 EPS for the current year.

About Mondelez International

Mondelez International, Inc. is a global snacking company that makes and markets biscuits, chocolate, candy, gum and other snack products. Its brands include Oreo, Ritz, LU, belVita, Cadbury, Milka, Toblerone and Sour Patch Kids. The company sells its products in countries around the world, with a particularly strong presence in Europe and emerging markets. Mondelez was created in 2012 when Kraft Foods separated its international snacks business from its North American grocery business. Dirk Van de Put has served as Mondelez's chairman and chief executive officer since 2017.

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