Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) Shares Purchased by Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.

Key Points

• Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management increased its stake in Kraft Heinz by 22.4%, acquiring an additional 338,781 shares during the 1st quarter, bringing its total ownership to approximately 1.85 million shares valued at $56.27 million.
• Many institutional investors are enhancing their positions in Kraft Heinz, with notable increases from firms like Y.D. More Investments Ltd and Deutsche Bank AG.
• Kraft Heinz recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.40 per share, representing an annualized yield of 5.8%, with the payout occurring on September 26th.

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC - Free Report) by 22.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,849,072 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 338,781 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned about 0.16% of Kraft Heinz worth $56,267,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Kraft Heinz by 12.7% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 101,980,834 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,103,277,000 after buying an additional 11,472,071 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Kraft Heinz by 4,390.7% during the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 7,444,062 shares of the company's stock worth $226,523,000 after purchasing an additional 7,278,295 shares during the last quarter. Southeastern Asset Management Inc. TN acquired a new stake in Kraft Heinz in the 4th quarter valued at about $87,080,000. Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. Can lifted its position in Kraft Heinz by 341.9% during the fourth quarter. Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. Can now owns 3,314,000 shares of the company's stock worth $101,773,000 after buying an additional 2,564,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Criteria Caixa S.A.U. acquired a new position in shares of Kraft Heinz during the 4th quarter valued at about $73,316,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.17% of the company's stock.

Kraft Heinz Stock Performance

Shares of KHC stock traded up $0.11 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $27.76. The stock had a trading volume of 9,265,738 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,402,403. Kraft Heinz Company has a fifty-two week low of $25.44 and a fifty-two week high of $36.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $26.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $28.46. The firm has a market cap of $32.86 billion, a PE ratio of -6.18, a PEG ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.23.

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

Kraft Heinz Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on KHC shares. UBS Group raised their target price on Kraft Heinz from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. DZ Bank downgraded Kraft Heinz from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $31.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Kraft Heinz from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered Kraft Heinz from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and decreased their target price for the company from $34.00 to $31.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised Kraft Heinz from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their price target for the company from $25.00 to $27.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seventeen have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $30.35.

Insider Transactions at Kraft Heinz

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

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.