Villere ST Denis J & Co. LLC Reduces Stock Position in Mondelez International, Inc. $MDLZ

Key Points

• Villere ST Denis J & Co. LLC reduced its stake in Mondelez International by 3.0%, now holding 350,224 shares valued at approximately $23.6 million.
• Analysts have set an average price target of $71.55 for Mondelez International, with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" based on 14 Buy ratings and 7 Hold ratings.
• The company recently announced an increase in its quarterly dividend to $0.50 per share, representing an annualized dividend yield of 3.3%.

Villere ST Denis J & Co. LLC lessened its position in shares of Mondelez International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDLZ - Free Report) by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 350,224 shares of the company's stock after selling 10,978 shares during the quarter. Mondelez International accounts for 2.3% of Villere ST Denis J & Co. LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest position. Villere ST Denis J & Co. LLC's holdings in Mondelez International were worth $23,619,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of Mondelez International by 90.1% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 29,017,101 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,968,811,000 after buying an additional 13,755,181 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mondelez International in the 1st quarter valued at about $866,843,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Mondelez International by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 12,547,186 shares of the company's stock valued at $851,327,000 after buying an additional 137,604 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Mondelez International by 57.6% in the 1st 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 during the period. Finally, Bahl & Gaynor Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Mondelez International by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 6,147,235 shares of the company's stock valued at $417,090,000 after buying an additional 89,362 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.32% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MDLZ. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Mondelez International in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Mondelez International from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Mondelez International from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Barclays upped their price target on Mondelez International from $74.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised Mondelez International from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $66.00 to $78.00 in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $71.55.

Mondelez International Price Performance

Shares of Mondelez International stock opened at $61.45 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $62.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $65.45. Mondelez International, Inc. has a 12 month low of $53.95 and a 12 month high of $72.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $79.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.51, a PEG ratio of 4.62 and a beta of 0.45. 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 announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 11th. The company reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter. Mondelez International had a return on equity of 15.35% and a net margin of 9.84%.The business had revenue of $7.30 billion during the quarter. As a group, analysts predict that Mondelez International, Inc. will post 2.9 EPS 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. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 30th. This is an increase from Mondelez International's previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. Mondelez International's payout ratio is currently 73.26%.

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.

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