California Public Employees Retirement System Decreases Stake in Mondelez International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDLZ)

California Public Employees Retirement System decreased its holdings in Mondelez International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDLZ) by 1.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,062,918 shares of the company’s stock after selling 68,217 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned about 0.38% of Mondelez International worth $302,408,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MDLZ. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Mondelez International in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,118,755,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Mondelez International in the fourth quarter valued at about $256,832,000. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in Mondelez International by 2,560.0% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 3,411,179 shares of the company’s stock valued at $203,749,000 after buying an additional 3,282,937 shares in the last quarter. Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Mondelez International during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $219,045,000. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP purchased a new stake in shares of Mondelez International during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $159,823,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.32% of the company’s stock.

Mondelez International Stock Up 0.3 %

MDLZ opened at $67.72 on Friday. Mondelez International, Inc. has a 12 month low of $53.95 and a 12 month high of $76.06. The business has a 50-day moving average of $62.25 and a two-hundred day moving average of $64.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $87.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.34 and a beta of 0.50.

Mondelez International (NASDAQ:MDLZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.66 by ($0.01). Mondelez International had a return on equity of 16.75% and a net margin of 12.68%. On average, research analysts expect that Mondelez International, Inc. will post 2.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Mondelez International declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to repurchase $9.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 10.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Mondelez International Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 14th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.47 dividend. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.78%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Mondelez International’s payout ratio is currently 54.97%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on MDLZ shares. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on Mondelez International from $75.00 to $69.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Mondelez International from $61.00 to $54.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Argus cut shares of Mondelez International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Dbs Bank cut shares of Mondelez International from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Mondelez International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $75.00 to $62.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $69.50.

Mondelez International Company Profile

Mondelez International, Inc, through its subsidiaries, manufactures, markets, and sells snack food and beverage products in the Latin America, North America, Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Europe. It provides biscuits and baked snacks, including cookies, crackers, salted snacks, snack bars, and cakes and pastries; chocolates; and gums and candies, as well as various cheese and grocery, and powdered beverage products.