Highland Capital Management LLC Reduces Stock Position in Mondelez International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDLZ)

Highland Capital Management LLC cut its position in shares of Mondelez International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDLZ - Free Report) by 3.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 93,397 shares of the company's stock after selling 3,712 shares during the quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC's holdings in Mondelez International were worth $6,337,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Mondelez International by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 132,437,250 shares of the company's stock worth $7,910,477,000 after acquiring an additional 931,776 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Mondelez International by 13.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 37,529,511 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,241,637,000 after buying an additional 4,572,555 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Mondelez International by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 28,913,478 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,721,954,000 after buying an additional 708,523 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in Mondelez International by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 20,074,353 shares of the company's stock worth $1,198,491,000 after purchasing an additional 975,929 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Mondelez International in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,118,755,000. 78.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on MDLZ shares. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Mondelez International from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Mondelez International from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Mondelez International from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price target for the company from $68.00 to $78.00 in a research note on Friday, June 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Mondelez International from $64.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $69.00 price objective on shares of Mondelez International in a report on Monday, April 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $70.63.

Mondelez International Price Performance

Shares of MDLZ traded up $0.03 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $67.78. The company's stock had a trading volume of 9,105,219 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,071,915. Mondelez International, Inc. has a one year low of $53.95 and a one year high of $76.06. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $66.73 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $63.74. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $87.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.25 and a beta of 0.48.

Mondelez International (NASDAQ:MDLZ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $9.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.37 billion. Mondelez International had a return on equity of 15.94% and a net margin of 9.90%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.93 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Mondelez International, Inc. will post 2.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mondelez International Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.47 per share. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.77%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. Mondelez International's dividend payout ratio is currently 69.89%.

Mondelez International Company 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.