Smith Moore & CO. Sells 531 Shares of Mondelez International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDLZ)

Smith Moore & CO. reduced its position in Mondelez International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDLZ) by 8.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,584 shares of the company’s stock after selling 531 shares during the period. Smith Moore & CO.’s holdings in Mondelez International were worth $334,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MDLZ. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Mondelez International by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 132,437,250 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,910,477,000 after acquiring an additional 931,776 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Mondelez International by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 28,913,478 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,721,954,000 after purchasing an additional 708,523 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Mondelez International during the 4th quarter worth $1,118,755,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in Mondelez International by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 17,423,363 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,040,697,000 after buying an additional 208,181 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in Mondelez International by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 10,354,236 shares of the company’s stock valued at $618,458,000 after buying an additional 326,177 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.32% of the company’s stock.

Mondelez International Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MDLZ opened at $66.31 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.68. Mondelez International, Inc. has a 1 year low of $53.95 and a 1 year high of $76.06. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $63.25 and its 200 day moving average price is $64.54. The company has a market capitalization of $85.77 billion, a PE ratio of 19.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.34 and a beta of 0.47.

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

Mondelez International Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.84%. Mondelez International’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.97%.

Mondelez International declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to buyback $9.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 10.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Mondelez International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $75.00 to $62.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of Mondelez International from $68.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Dbs Bank downgraded shares of Mondelez International from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. DZ Bank downgraded Mondelez International from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $52.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on Mondelez International from $78.00 to $71.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mondelez International currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $70.20.

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.