Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. Sells 4,978 Shares of The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC)

Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. cut its holdings in The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) by 32.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,328 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,978 shares during the period. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc.’s holdings in Kraft Heinz were worth $317,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Kraft Heinz by 11.5% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,307,598 shares of the company’s stock valued at $186,350,000 after buying an additional 545,504 shares during the period. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise boosted its position in Kraft Heinz by 52.5% in the 3rd quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 170,511 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,988,000 after buying an additional 58,665 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management boosted its position in Kraft Heinz by 229.8% in the 4th quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 342,880 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,530,000 after buying an additional 238,913 shares during the period. Easterly Investment Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Kraft Heinz by 39.4% in the 3rd quarter. Easterly Investment Partners LLC now owns 157,479 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,529,000 after purchasing an additional 44,485 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank raised its holdings in shares of Kraft Heinz by 12.6% in the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 487,938 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,132,000 after purchasing an additional 54,656 shares in the last quarter. 78.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KHC has been the subject of several recent research reports. Bank of America lowered shares of Kraft Heinz from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $36.00 to $30.00 in a report on Thursday, February 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of Kraft Heinz from $32.00 to $28.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Kraft Heinz from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Evercore ISI reiterated an “in-line” rating and set a $35.00 price objective (down previously from $38.00) on shares of Kraft Heinz in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Kraft Heinz from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and twelve have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Kraft Heinz presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $30.86.

Kraft Heinz Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of Kraft Heinz stock opened at $31.73 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The Kraft Heinz Company has a 12-month low of $27.25 and a 12-month high of $38.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.04, a PEG ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.47. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $29.75 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $32.47.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.06. Kraft Heinz had a net margin of 10.62% and a return on equity of 7.58%. Analysts predict that The Kraft Heinz Company will post 2.68 EPS for the current year.

Kraft Heinz Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.04%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Kraft Heinz’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 70.80%.

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.