Cetera Investment Advisers Trims Position in Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC)

Cetera Investment Advisers reduced its stake in shares of Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC - Free Report) by 4.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 359,242 shares of the company's stock after selling 15,560 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers' holdings in Kraft Heinz were worth $10,932,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in KHC. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. raised its position in Kraft Heinz by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 30,473 shares of the company's stock worth $927,000 after purchasing an additional 1,268 shares during the period. Unison Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Kraft Heinz in the 1st quarter worth $2,982,000. Poplar Forest Capital LLC raised its position in Kraft Heinz by 5.6% in the 1st quarter. Poplar Forest Capital LLC now owns 747,760 shares of the company's stock worth $22,754,000 after purchasing an additional 39,388 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Kraft Heinz by 84.8% in the 1st quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,465 shares of the company's stock worth $288,000 after purchasing an additional 4,343 shares during the period. Finally, Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kraft Heinz in the first quarter valued at about $1,685,000. 78.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Kraft Heinz Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:KHC traded down $0.05 during trading on Friday, reaching $27.41. 16,933,701 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 17,301,668. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $26.84 and a two-hundred day moving average of $28.54. Kraft Heinz Company has a 52-week low of $25.44 and a 52-week high of $36.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 1.07. The stock has a market cap of $32.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.23.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $6.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.26 billion. Kraft Heinz had a negative net margin of 20.83% and a positive return on equity of 7.40%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.78 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Kraft Heinz Company will post 2.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kraft Heinz Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Investors of record on Friday, August 29th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 29th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.8%. Kraft Heinz's dividend payout ratio is -35.63%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kraft Heinz news, Director Elio Leoni Sceti sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.91, for a total value of $697,750.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 40,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,116,400. This trade represents a 38.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.35% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on KHC. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Kraft Heinz from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Kraft Heinz from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday. DZ Bank cut shares of Kraft Heinz from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $31.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Friday, May 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Kraft Heinz from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $25.00 to $27.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Kraft Heinz from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and sixteen have assigned a hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $30.35.

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.