Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. Decreases Position in Mondelez International, Inc. $MDLZ

Key Points

• Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. has drastically reduced its stake in Mondelez International by 99.2%, leaving it with only 2,477 shares after selling over 290,000 shares in the second quarter.
• Several large investors such as Price T Rowe Associates Inc. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. significantly increased their holdings in Mondelez, with some raising their stakes by over 90%.
• Mondelez International announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.50 per share, with a new dividend yield of 3.3%, indicating positive cash flow for the company.

Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. reduced its stake in Mondelez International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDLZ - Free Report) by 99.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,477 shares of the company's stock after selling 290,961 shares during the quarter. Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd.'s holdings in Mondelez International were worth $167,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in Mondelez International by 90.1% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 29,017,101 shares of the company's stock worth $1,968,811,000 after acquiring an additional 13,755,181 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mondelez International in the first quarter valued at about $866,843,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Mondelez International by 57.6% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 9,446,774 shares of the company's stock valued at $640,964,000 after buying an additional 3,454,174 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Mondelez International by 148.6% in the first quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 2,970,513 shares of the company's stock valued at $201,549,000 after buying an additional 1,775,570 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brown Advisory Inc. grew its stake in shares of Mondelez International by 659.9% in the first quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 1,503,137 shares of the company's stock valued at $101,988,000 after buying an additional 1,305,332 shares in the last quarter. 78.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MDLZ. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on Mondelez International from $79.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Mondelez International in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Mondelez International from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Berenberg Bank lowered Mondelez International from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $70.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Mondelez International from $78.00 to $74.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $71.55.

Mondelez International Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MDLZ opened at $61.45 on Monday. Mondelez International, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $53.95 and a fifty-two week high of $72.70. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $62.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $65.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The firm has a market cap of $79.51 billion, a PE ratio of 22.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.65 and a beta of 0.45.

Mondelez International (NASDAQ:MDLZ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 11th. The company reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter. Mondelez International had a return on equity of 15.35% and a net margin of 9.84%.The firm had revenue of $7.30 billion during the quarter. Sell-side analysts expect that Mondelez International, Inc. will post 2.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mondelez International Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. 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 73.26%.

About Mondelez International

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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