ProShare Advisors LLC Raises Holdings in The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC)

ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) by 21.7% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,299,257 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 231,745 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in Kraft Heinz were worth $47,943,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of KHC. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its stake in shares of Kraft Heinz by 12.2% during the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 85,698 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,883,000 after purchasing an additional 9,313 shares in the last quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Kraft Heinz by 26.8% during the 3rd quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,341 shares of the company’s stock worth $281,000 after purchasing an additional 1,762 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Kraft Heinz by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 70,215,597 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,362,053,000 after purchasing an additional 417,115 shares in the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Kraft Heinz in the 4th quarter worth approximately $47,000. Finally, DNB Asset Management AS grew its stake in Kraft Heinz by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 168,866 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,245,000 after acquiring an additional 486 shares during the period. 78.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Kraft Heinz Stock Up 3.2 %

KHC stock traded up $1.06 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $33.90. The stock had a trading volume of 11,974,672 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,889,335. The Kraft Heinz Company has a 1-year low of $30.68 and a 1-year high of $38.96. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The company has a market capitalization of $41.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.34, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.53. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $33.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $35.65.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.01. Kraft Heinz had a net margin of 10.62% and a return on equity of 7.41%. The firm had revenue of $6.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.43 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.68 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that The Kraft Heinz Company will post 3.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Kraft Heinz Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 6th were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 6th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.72%. Kraft Heinz’s dividend payout ratio is currently 69.87%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Lande Rashida La sold 10,140 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.95, for a total transaction of $364,533.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 158,266 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,689,662.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KHC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of Kraft Heinz from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Kraft Heinz from $42.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of Kraft Heinz from $42.00 to $41.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Kraft Heinz from $37.00 to $34.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $39.42.

About Kraft Heinz

The Kraft Heinz Company, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and markets food and beverage products in North America and internationally. Its products include condiments and sauces, cheese and dairy products, meals, meats, refreshment beverages, coffee, and other grocery products under the Kraft, Oscar Mayer, Heinz, Philadelphia, Lunchables, Velveeta, Ore-Ida, Maxwell House, Kool-Aid, Jell-O, Heinz, ABC, Master, Quero, Kraft, Golden Circle, Wattie's, Pudliszki, and Plasmon brands.