Merit Financial Group LLC Increases Holdings in Mondelez International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDLZ)

Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its position in Mondelez International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDLZ - Free Report) by 8.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 53,818 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 4,302 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC's holdings in Mondelez International were worth $3,652,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in Mondelez International by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC now owns 42,266 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,868,000 after buying an additional 456 shares in the last quarter. Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Mondelez International during the first quarter worth $203,000. NBC Securities Inc. grew its position in shares of Mondelez International by 67,660.0% in the first quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 10,164 shares of the company's stock valued at $689,000 after purchasing an additional 10,149 shares in the last quarter. Enterprise Bank & Trust Co grew its stake in Mondelez International by 2.1% during the first quarter. Enterprise Bank & Trust Co now owns 23,794 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,614,000 after acquiring an additional 491 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Douglas Lane & Associates LLC increased its holdings in Mondelez International by 26.4% during the 1st quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC now owns 17,862 shares of the company's stock worth $1,212,000 after acquiring an additional 3,732 shares during the period. 78.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MDLZ has been the subject of several analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of Mondelez International from $68.00 to $60.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Mondelez International from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. DA Davidson lowered Mondelez International from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $66.00 to $68.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Argus downgraded Mondelez International from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $69.00 price objective on shares of Mondelez International in a report on Monday, April 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Mondelez International has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $70.55.

Mondelez International Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:MDLZ traded down $0.22 on Friday, reaching $66.15. 6,279,009 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,029,546. The stock has a market capitalization of $85.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.34 and a beta of 0.48. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $66.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $63.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. Mondelez International, Inc. has a 52 week low of $53.95 and a 52 week high of $76.06.

Mondelez International (NASDAQ:MDLZ - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.07. Mondelez International had a return on equity of 16.75% and a net margin of 12.68%. The business had revenue of $9.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.37 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.93 EPS. Mondelez International's revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Mondelez International, Inc. will post 2.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mondelez International Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 14th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a $0.47 dividend. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. Mondelez International's payout ratio is 69.89%.

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.