Cresset Asset Management LLC Cuts Holdings in The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC)

Cresset Asset Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC - Free Report) by 45.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 56,555 shares of the company's stock after selling 47,620 shares during the quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC's holdings in Kraft Heinz were worth $1,737,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Kraft Heinz by 19.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 90,508,763 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,779,524,000 after acquiring an additional 14,996,486 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Kraft Heinz by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,745,734 shares of the company's stock worth $604,644,000 after purchasing an additional 595,406 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Kraft Heinz in the 4th quarter valued at $324,857,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Kraft Heinz by 12.6% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 9,289,691 shares of the company's stock valued at $285,286,000 after purchasing an additional 1,039,885 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Kraft Heinz by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,525,110 shares of the company's stock valued at $200,369,000 after purchasing an additional 174,706 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.17% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup reiterated a "sell" rating and issued a $27.00 target price (down from $28.00) on shares of Kraft Heinz in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Mizuho cut shares of Kraft Heinz from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $38.00 to $31.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Kraft Heinz from $33.00 to $29.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Kraft Heinz from $31.00 to $30.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Kraft Heinz in a research report on Monday, March 24th. They issued an "underweight" rating and a $29.00 price target for the company. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and fifteen have given a hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $30.65.

Kraft Heinz Stock Performance

NASDAQ:KHC traded down $0.56 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $27.59. The stock had a trading volume of 14,973,499 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,192,281. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The stock has a market cap of $32.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.21, a P/E/G ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.30. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $29.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $30.32. The Kraft Heinz Company has a 12-month low of $27.25 and a 12-month high of $36.70.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.02. Kraft Heinz had a return on equity of 7.58% and a net margin of 10.62%. The business had revenue of $6 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.02 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.69 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that The Kraft Heinz Company will post 2.68 EPS for the current year.

Kraft Heinz Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.80%. Kraft Heinz's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 73.06%.

Kraft Heinz Company Profile

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.