Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV Trims Stock Position in The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC)

Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lowered its stake in The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC - Free Report) by 21.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 49,908 shares of the company's stock after selling 13,315 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV's holdings in Kraft Heinz were worth $1,533,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Brookstone Capital Management lifted its holdings in shares of Kraft Heinz by 229.8% in the 4th quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 342,880 shares of the company's stock worth $10,530,000 after acquiring an additional 238,913 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in Kraft Heinz in the fourth quarter worth about $2,048,000. FLC Capital Advisors boosted its position in shares of Kraft Heinz by 121.0% during the fourth quarter. FLC Capital Advisors now owns 18,653 shares of the company's stock valued at $573,000 after buying an additional 10,214 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of Kraft Heinz by 511.7% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 42,706 shares of the company's stock worth $1,312,000 after acquiring an additional 35,725 shares during the last quarter. Finally, 1834 Investment Advisors Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Kraft Heinz during the fourth quarter valued at $470,000. 78.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Mizuho downgraded Kraft Heinz from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $38.00 to $31.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Citigroup restated a "sell" rating and issued a $27.00 price target (down previously from $28.00) on shares of Kraft Heinz in a report on Friday, April 4th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Kraft Heinz from $33.00 to $29.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. DZ Bank downgraded Kraft Heinz from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $31.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Kraft Heinz from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and fifteen have assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $30.65.

Kraft Heinz Stock Performance

NASDAQ:KHC traded down $0.44 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $27.15. The company had a trading volume of 4,815,362 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,689,899. The business's 50 day moving average price is $29.48 and its 200-day moving average price is $30.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The Kraft Heinz Company has a 1-year low of $27.15 and a 1-year high of $36.53. The firm has a market cap of $32.13 billion, a PE ratio of 12.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.30.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.02. Kraft Heinz had a net margin of 10.62% and a return on equity of 7.58%. The business had revenue of $6 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.02 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.69 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that The Kraft Heinz Company will post 2.68 EPS for the current year.

Kraft Heinz Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.89%. Kraft Heinz's dividend payout ratio is presently 73.06%.

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.