Kraft Heinz Company $KHC Shares Sold by Columbia Asset Management

Key Points

• Columbia Asset Management significantly reduced its holdings in Kraft Heinz Company by 91%, selling 300,675 shares and now owning only 29,696 shares valued at approximately $767,000.
• Several other institutional investors increased their positions, with Swedbank AB boosting its ownership by 13.6% to hold 878,684 shares worth nearly $26.74 million.
• Kraft Heinz reported a earnings per share (EPS) of $0.69 for the last quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations, with revenues of $6.35 billion, although it faced a year-over-year decline of 1.9% in revenue.

Columbia Asset Management lowered its position in shares of Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC - Free Report) by 91.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 29,696 shares of the company's stock after selling 300,675 shares during the period. Columbia Asset Management's holdings in Kraft Heinz were worth $767,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Swedbank AB increased its holdings in shares of Kraft Heinz by 13.6% during the 1st quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 878,684 shares of the company's stock worth $26,738,000 after buying an additional 104,872 shares during the last quarter. Bard Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in shares of Kraft Heinz by 24.5% during the 2nd quarter. Bard Financial Services Inc. now owns 104,225 shares of the company's stock worth $2,691,000 after purchasing an additional 20,500 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its position in shares of Kraft Heinz by 7.8% during the 1st quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 90,252 shares of the company's stock worth $2,746,000 after purchasing an additional 6,551 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of Kraft Heinz by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,171,720 shares of the company's stock worth $248,665,000 after purchasing an additional 103,548 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Kraft Heinz by 28.1% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 15,794 shares of the company's stock worth $481,000 after purchasing an additional 3,468 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.17% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KHC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on shares of Kraft Heinz in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $27.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Kraft Heinz from $29.00 to $27.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Morgan Stanley set a $29.00 price objective on shares of Kraft Heinz and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Kraft Heinz from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their price target for the company from $25.00 to $27.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. Finally, UBS Group set a $28.00 price target on shares of Kraft Heinz and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $29.76.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Elio Leoni Sceti sold 25,000 shares of Kraft Heinz stock in a transaction on Friday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.91, for a total transaction of $697,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 40,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,116,400. The trade was a 38.46% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.35% of the company's stock.

Kraft Heinz Price Performance

Kraft Heinz stock opened at $26.04 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $30.82 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.23. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $27.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $27.65. Kraft Heinz Company has a 12-month low of $25.35 and a 12-month high of $36.31. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $6.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.26 billion. Kraft Heinz had a negative net margin of 20.83% and a positive return on equity of 7.40%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.78 EPS. Kraft Heinz has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.510-2.670 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Kraft Heinz Company will post 2.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kraft Heinz Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 29th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 29th. Kraft Heinz's payout ratio is -35.63%.

About Kraft Heinz

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.

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