Kellogg W. K. Foundation Trust Sells 77,800 Shares of Kellanova (NYSE:K) Stock

Kellanova (NYSE:K) major shareholder Kellogg W. K. Foundation Trust sold 77,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.01, for a total value of $5,757,978.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 50,830,838 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,761,990,320.38. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Major shareholders that own more than 10% of a company’s shares are required to disclose their sales and purchases with the SEC.

Kellanova Trading Up 0.7 %

K stock opened at $74.88 on Friday. Kellanova has a 1-year low of $47.63 and a 1-year high of $75.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.41. The company has a market capitalization of $25.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.04, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.34. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $59.63 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $57.90.

Kellanova (NYSE:K) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.11. Kellanova had a return on equity of 36.74% and a net margin of 6.72%. The business had revenue of $3.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.15 billion. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.25 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Kellanova will post 3.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kellanova Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.04%. This is a boost from Kellanova’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.56. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 3rd. Kellanova’s dividend payout ratio is 85.39%.

Institutional Trading of Kellanova

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Excalibur Management Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Kellanova by 13.4% during the second quarter. Excalibur Management Corp now owns 4,526 shares of the company’s stock worth $261,000 after purchasing an additional 535 shares during the period. Luts & Greenleigh Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Kellanova during the second quarter worth approximately $509,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Kellanova by 11.8% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,616,312 shares of the company’s stock worth $150,909,000 after purchasing an additional 277,171 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Kellanova by 2.2% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 211,081 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,175,000 after purchasing an additional 4,566 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Kellanova by 37.1% during the second quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 75,075 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,330,000 after purchasing an additional 20,315 shares in the last quarter. 83.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

K has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America upgraded Kellanova from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $62.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Evercore ISI upgraded Kellanova to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on Kellanova from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Kellanova from $62.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Kellanova from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $66.93.

About Kellanova

Kellanova, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and markets snacks and convenience foods in North America, Europe, Latin America, the Asia Pacific, the Middle East, Australia, and Africa. Its principal products include crackers, crisps, savory snacks, toaster pastries, cereal bars, granola bars and bites, ready-to-eat cereals, frozen waffles, veggie foods, and noodles.