Avantax Planning Partners Inc. Sells 218 Shares of Mondelez International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDLZ)

Avantax Planning Partners Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Mondelez International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDLZ) by 2.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,589 shares of the company’s stock after selling 218 shares during the quarter. Avantax Planning Partners Inc.’s holdings in Mondelez International were worth $453,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its stake in Mondelez International by 12,057.4% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 12,574,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $926,327,000 after buying an additional 12,470,573 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Mondelez International in the fourth quarter worth $256,832,000. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in Mondelez International by 2,560.0% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 3,411,179 shares of the company’s stock valued at $203,749,000 after purchasing an additional 3,282,937 shares during the period. Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP bought a new stake in Mondelez International during the third quarter valued at about $219,045,000. Finally, FMR LLC grew its holdings in Mondelez International by 14.2% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,255,657 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,344,894,000 after purchasing an additional 2,268,639 shares during the period. 78.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on MDLZ shares. Jefferies Financial Group lowered 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. Citigroup reduced their price target on Mondelez International from $78.00 to $71.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Mondelez International from $76.00 to $63.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Mondelez International from $82.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Mondelez International from $61.00 to $54.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $69.74.

Mondelez International Price Performance

NASDAQ MDLZ opened at $67.85 on Wednesday. Mondelez International, Inc. has a 52 week low of $53.95 and a 52 week high of $76.06. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The stock has a market cap of $87.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.34 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $60.39 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $65.48.

Mondelez International (NASDAQ:MDLZ) last posted its 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%. Analysts forecast that Mondelez International, Inc. will post 2.9 EPS for the current year.

Mondelez International Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.47 dividend. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.77%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Mondelez International’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.97%.

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

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.