Magellan Asset Management Ltd Trims Stock Position in Mondelez International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDLZ)

Key Points

• Magellan Asset Management Ltd reduced its stake in Mondelez International by 25.9%, now holding 56,625 shares valued at approximately $3.84 million.
• Analysts have raised price targets for Mondelez International, with Stifel Nicolaus increasing their target from $73 to $76 and Wells Fargo raising theirs from $68 to $78, indicating a generally positive outlook.
• Mondelez International announced an increase in its quarterly dividend to $0.50 per share, reflecting a commitment to returning value to shareholders, with a 3.2% annual yield.

Magellan Asset Management Ltd reduced its stake in shares of Mondelez International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDLZ - Free Report) by 25.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 56,625 shares of the company's stock after selling 19,839 shares during the period. Magellan Asset Management Ltd's holdings in Mondelez International were worth $3,842,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Abound Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mondelez International during the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in Mondelez International in the first quarter worth about $26,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Mondelez International by 376.1% during the first quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 438 shares of the company's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 346 shares during the last quarter. North Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Mondelez International during the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Orion Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Mondelez International during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 78.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on MDLZ shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Mondelez International from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Mondelez International from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Mondelez International from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $66.00 to $78.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. DA Davidson downgraded shares of Mondelez International from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $66.00 to $68.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Mondelez International from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Mondelez International presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $71.95.

Mondelez International Stock Performance

Shares of Mondelez International stock traded down $0.60 during trading on Thursday, hitting $61.59. 2,231,325 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,035,394. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.64. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $66.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $65.51. Mondelez International, Inc. has a 52-week low of $53.95 and a 52-week high of $76.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $79.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.58, a PEG ratio of 4.64 and a beta of 0.46.

Mondelez International (NASDAQ:MDLZ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $8.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.82 billion. Mondelez International had a net margin of 9.84% and a return on equity of 15.35%. The firm's revenue was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.86 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Mondelez International, Inc. will post 2.9 EPS for the current year.

Mondelez International Increases Dividend

The business 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 3.2%. This is a positive change from Mondelez International's previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 30th. Mondelez International's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.