Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Grows Holdings in The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC - Free Report) by 169.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 587,180 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 369,231 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.'s holdings in Kraft Heinz were worth $21,714,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. BlackRock Inc. grew its position in shares of Kraft Heinz by 9.0% in the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 83,293,412 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,956,916,000 after purchasing an additional 6,870,945 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Kraft Heinz by 0.6% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 70,215,597 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,362,053,000 after purchasing an additional 417,115 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Kraft Heinz by 3.0% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 37,076,605 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,316,219,000 after purchasing an additional 1,080,196 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Kraft Heinz by 10.7% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 24,601,098 shares of the company's stock valued at $827,581,000 after purchasing an additional 2,369,080 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of Kraft Heinz by 1,835.5% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 19,527,499 shares of the company's stock valued at $794,964,000 after purchasing an additional 18,518,584 shares during the last quarter. 78.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Kraft Heinz Price Performance

Shares of Kraft Heinz stock traded up $0.37 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $36.90. 7,159,068 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,442,349. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The firm has a market cap of $44.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.97, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.67. The Kraft Heinz Company has a 52 week low of $30.68 and a 52 week high of $41.47. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $35.94 and a 200-day simple moving average of $35.02.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The company reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.01. Kraft Heinz had a return on equity of 7.42% and a net margin of 10.72%. The business had revenue of $6.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.99 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.85 EPS. Kraft Heinz's revenue was down 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that The Kraft Heinz Company will post 3.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Kraft Heinz Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th will be given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.34%. Kraft Heinz's payout ratio is 69.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kraft Heinz

In related news, Director Miguel Patricio sold 131,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.02, for a total value of $4,999,630.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 992,049 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,717,702.98. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.32% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on KHC shares. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Kraft Heinz from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their target price for the company from $40.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Monday, December 11th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Kraft Heinz from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Citigroup started coverage on shares of Kraft Heinz in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $43.00 target price for the company. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $40.57.

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.