Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Has $208.65 Million Stake in The Wendy's Company (NASDAQ:WEN)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA decreased its position in shares of The Wendy's Company (NASDAQ:WEN - Free Report) by 1.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,711,129 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 182,544 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned approximately 5.13% of Wendy's worth $208,653,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Trian Fund Management L.P. boosted its position in Wendy's by 60.9% during the third quarter. Trian Fund Management L.P. now owns 33,350,743 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $680,689,000 after purchasing an additional 12,618,115 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Wendy's by 6.1% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,248,412 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $413,270,000 after purchasing an additional 1,162,540 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Wendy's by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,706,052 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $91,674,000 after purchasing an additional 31,341 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Wendy's by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,141,024 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $80,668,000 after purchasing an additional 63,927 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted its position in Wendy's by 3.7% during the third quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 3,208,882 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $65,492,000 after purchasing an additional 113,406 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.96% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Wendy's

In other Wendy's news, CMO Juan Carlos Loredo sold 44,806 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.50, for a total transaction of $873,717.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 27,586 shares of the company's stock, valued at $537,927. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, Director Kenneth W. Gilbert sold 4,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.07, for a total value of $81,315.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 31,304 shares in the company, valued at approximately $565,663.28. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CMO Juan Carlos Loredo sold 44,806 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.50, for a total value of $873,717.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 27,586 shares in the company, valued at approximately $537,927. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 17.10% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Wedbush increased their price target on Wendy's from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Citigroup increased their price target on Wendy's from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Stephens reiterated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $20.00 price target on shares of Wendy's in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. UBS Group increased their price target on Wendy's from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein cut Wendy's from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and decreased their price target for the company from $24.00 to $20.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $22.42.

Wendy's Stock Performance

WEN stock traded down $0.21 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $18.42. 2,742,937 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,239,188. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $18.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $19.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.21, a current ratio of 2.04 and a quick ratio of 2.02. The company has a market cap of $3.78 billion, a PE ratio of 18.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 0.78. The Wendy's Company has a 1 year low of $17.64 and a 1 year high of $23.89.

Wendy's (NASDAQ:WEN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The restaurant operator reported $0.23 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.02. Wendy's had a return on equity of 62.68% and a net margin of 9.44%. The company had revenue of $534.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $540.84 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.21 earnings per share. Wendy's's quarterly revenue was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that The Wendy's Company will post 1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wendy's Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 3rd will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 3rd. Wendy's's dividend payout ratio is presently 101.01%.

About Wendy's

The Wendy's Company, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a quick-service restaurant company in the United States and internationally. It operates through Wendy's U.S., Wendy's International, and Global Real Estate & Development segments. The company is involved in operating, developing, and franchising a system of quick-service restaurants specializing in hamburger sandwiches.