MML Investors Services LLC Trims Holdings in The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC)

MML Investors Services LLC decreased its position in shares of The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC - Free Report) by 7.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 130,992 shares of the company's stock after selling 10,700 shares during the quarter. MML Investors Services LLC's holdings in Kraft Heinz were worth $4,023,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Kraft Heinz by 19.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 90,508,763 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,779,524,000 after purchasing an additional 14,996,486 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Kraft Heinz by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,745,734 shares of the company's stock valued at $604,644,000 after buying an additional 595,406 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Kraft Heinz in the 4th quarter worth about $324,857,000. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in Kraft Heinz by 16.3% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 8,813,268 shares of the company's stock worth $269,906,000 after buying an additional 1,238,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Kraft Heinz by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,525,110 shares of the company's stock valued at $200,369,000 after acquiring an additional 174,706 shares during the last quarter. 78.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KHC has been the subject of several research reports. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on Kraft Heinz from $34.00 to $30.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Bank of America cut shares of Kraft Heinz from a "buy" rating to an "underperform" rating and reduced their target price for the company from $36.00 to $30.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Kraft Heinz in a research report on Monday, March 24th. They set an "underweight" rating and a $29.00 price target on the stock. Cfra Research lowered shares of Kraft Heinz from a "moderate buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Mizuho lowered Kraft Heinz from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price target for the company from $38.00 to $31.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and fourteen have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $30.63.

Kraft Heinz Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of KHC stock traded up $0.20 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $29.07. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,442,715 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,818,564. The Kraft Heinz Company has a 1-year low of $27.25 and a 1-year high of $37.70. 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 company has a market capitalization of $34.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.86, a P/E/G ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.44. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $30.02 and its 200 day moving average price is $30.81.

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

Kraft Heinz Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.50%. Kraft Heinz's dividend payout ratio is presently 70.80%.

Kraft Heinz Company Profile

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.