Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. Cuts Stock Position in Mondelez International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDLZ)

Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. trimmed its holdings in shares of Mondelez International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDLZ) by 3.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 24,193 shares of the company’s stock after selling 760 shares during the period. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co.’s holdings in Mondelez International were worth $1,445,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MDLZ. Axiom Advisory LLC grew its stake in shares of Mondelez International by 1.6% in the third quarter. Axiom Advisory LLC now owns 9,152 shares of the company’s stock valued at $643,000 after buying an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. raised its stake in shares of Mondelez International by 16.5% during the third quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 1,058 shares of the company’s stock valued at $78,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. Carnegie Investment Counsel lifted its position in shares of Mondelez International by 1.4% during the third quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 11,007 shares of the company’s stock worth $811,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Mondelez International by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,130 shares of the company’s stock valued at $894,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quent Capital LLC increased its stake in Mondelez International by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 3,047 shares of the company’s stock worth $225,000 after buying an additional 160 shares during the period. 78.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MDLZ has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Mondelez International from $79.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on Mondelez International in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $82.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Mondelez International from $76.00 to $63.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Mondelez International from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Mondelez International from $82.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mondelez International has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $73.06.

Mondelez International Stock Performance

Shares of MDLZ opened at $57.13 on Thursday. 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, Inc. has a 1 year low of $55.97 and a 1 year high of $77.20. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $60.49 and a 200-day moving average of $66.84. The company has a market cap of $76.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.54.

Mondelez International (NASDAQ:MDLZ) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.99 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $9.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.11 billion. Mondelez International had a net margin of 10.58% and a return on equity of 17.53%. Mondelez International’s quarterly revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.82 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Mondelez International, Inc. will post 3.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Mondelez International declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to buyback $9.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to buy up to 10.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Mondelez International Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a $0.47 dividend. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. Mondelez International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 66.67%.

About Mondelez International

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.