Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $115.45 Million Stock Holdings in Mondelez International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDLZ)

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Mondelez International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDLZ) by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,567,067 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 82,742 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Mondelez International were worth $115,446,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Mondelez International by 3.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 60,151,987 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,459,239,000 after buying an additional 1,851,247 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Mondelez International by 1.2% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 28,204,955 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,069,906,000 after acquiring an additional 341,203 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Mondelez International by 14.2% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,255,657 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,344,894,000 after acquiring an additional 2,268,639 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in shares of Mondelez International by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 17,215,182 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,268,242,000 after acquiring an additional 489,068 shares during the period. Finally, Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its stake in shares of Mondelez International by 12,057.4% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 12,574,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $926,327,000 after purchasing an additional 12,470,573 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.32% of the company’s stock.

Mondelez International Trading Up 0.2 %

MDLZ stock opened at $59.39 on Friday. Mondelez International, Inc. has a 52 week low of $59.10 and a 52 week high of $77.20. The company has a market capitalization of $79.42 billion, a PE ratio of 21.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.53. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $65.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $68.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a current ratio of 0.63.

Mondelez International (NASDAQ:MDLZ) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.85 by $0.14. Mondelez International had a net margin of 10.58% and a return on equity of 17.53%. The firm had revenue of $9.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.11 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.82 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Mondelez International, Inc. will post 3.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Mondelez International announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to buyback $9.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 10.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Mondelez International Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.17%. Mondelez International’s dividend payout ratio is presently 66.67%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on MDLZ shares. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Mondelez International from $78.00 to $74.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on Mondelez International in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $82.00 target price for the company. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Mondelez International from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Citigroup cut their price target on Mondelez International from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of Mondelez International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $78.00 to $67.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Mondelez International presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $79.07.

Mondelez International 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.