National Pension Service Buys 222,561 Shares of Mondelez International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDLZ)

Key Points

• The National Pension Service increased its stake in Mondelez International by 7.7% in the first quarter, acquiring an additional 222,561 shares, bringing its total holdings to approximately 3.1 million shares valued at $210.85 million.
• Mondelez International recently reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $0.73, beating expectations, with a revenue of $8.98 billion, representing a 7.7% year-over-year growth.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share, marking an increase from the previous quarter's dividend and reflecting a 3.2% yield for shareholders.

National Pension Service raised its holdings in shares of Mondelez International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDLZ - Free Report) by 7.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,107,598 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 222,561 shares during the period. National Pension Service owned about 0.24% of Mondelez International worth $210,851,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Abound Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Mondelez International in the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC bought a new stake in Mondelez International in the first quarter valued at $26,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Mondelez International by 376.1% in the first quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 438 shares of the company's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 346 shares in the last quarter. North Capital Inc. bought a new stake in Mondelez International in the first quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Orion Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Mondelez International in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. 78.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MDLZ has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lifted 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. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Mondelez International from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group raised Mondelez International from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $66.00 to $78.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Mondelez International from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on Mondelez International from $79.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. One investment 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 data from MarketBeat, Mondelez International presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $71.95.

Mondelez International Stock Performance

NASDAQ MDLZ traded up $0.62 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $62.08. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,848,442 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,589,398. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $66.78 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $65.63. The company has a market cap of $80.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.69 and a beta of 0.46. Mondelez International, Inc. has a 12 month low of $53.95 and a 12 month high of $76.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.39.

Mondelez International (NASDAQ:MDLZ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $8.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.82 billion. Mondelez International had a return on equity of 15.35% and a net margin of 9.84%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.86 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Mondelez International, Inc. will post 2.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mondelez International Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a boost from Mondelez International's previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. Mondelez International's dividend payout ratio is presently 68.86%.

Mondelez International Profile

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.