Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Lowers Holdings in Mondelez International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDLZ)

Key Points

• Commonwealth Equity Services LLC reduced its stake in Mondelez International by 1.2% in the first quarter, now holding 452,496 shares worth approximately $30.7 million.
• Mondelez International recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share, reflecting a positive increase from the previous dividend of $0.47, with a yield of 3.2%.
• The company exceeded earnings expectations with an EPS of $0.73 for the last quarter, surpassing the consensus estimate by $0.05, while revenue rose 7.7% year-over-year.

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC trimmed its position in Mondelez International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDLZ - Free Report) by 1.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 452,496 shares of the company's stock after selling 5,278 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC's holdings in Mondelez International were worth $30,702,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in Mondelez International by 92.4% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 14,631 shares of the company's stock valued at $874,000 after purchasing an additional 7,025 shares in the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG boosted its holdings in Mondelez International by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 334,994 shares of the company's stock valued at $20,009,000 after purchasing an additional 3,706 shares in the last quarter. Prudential PLC purchased a new stake in Mondelez International in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $282,000. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its holdings in Mondelez International by 65.3% in the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 26,010 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,554,000 after purchasing an additional 10,279 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Mondelez International by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 818,073 shares of the company's stock valued at $49,659,000 after purchasing an additional 25,215 shares in the last quarter. 78.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mondelez International Stock Performance

Shares of MDLZ opened at $62.30 on Wednesday. The company's fifty day moving average price is $67.58 and its 200 day moving average price is $65.37. Mondelez International, Inc. has a one year low of $53.95 and a one year high of $76.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.39. The company has a market capitalization of $80.67 billion, a PE ratio of 22.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.80 and a beta of 0.46.

Mondelez International (NASDAQ:MDLZ - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.05. Mondelez International had a net margin of 9.84% and a return on equity of 15.35%. The company had revenue of $8.98 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.82 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.86 EPS. The business's revenue was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Mondelez International, Inc. will post 2.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Mondelez International Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 30th. This is a positive change from Mondelez International's previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. Mondelez International's payout ratio is presently 68.86%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on MDLZ shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised Mondelez International from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $66.00 to $78.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on Mondelez International from $79.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. UBS Group cut their price objective on Mondelez International from $72.00 to $69.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Mondelez International from $64.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Mondelez International from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Mondelez International has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $71.95.

Mondelez International Profile

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.

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