First Financial Corp IN Raises Position in Mondelez International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDLZ)

First Financial Corp IN raised its holdings in shares of Mondelez International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDLZ) by 2.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,032 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 318 shares during the period. First Financial Corp IN’s holdings in Mondelez International were worth $778,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MDLZ. Legacy Private Trust Co. boosted its position in shares of Mondelez International by 33.2% during the fourth quarter. Legacy Private Trust Co. now owns 3,841 shares of the company’s stock valued at $229,000 after buying an additional 957 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its stake in Mondelez International by 1,904.9% during the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 425,805 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,369,000 after acquiring an additional 404,567 shares during the period. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mondelez International by 14.3% during the 3rd quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 114,436 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,430,000 after acquiring an additional 14,278 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Mondelez International by 11.6% in the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 249,067 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,349,000 after acquiring an additional 25,833 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Mondelez International by 5.6% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,567,067 shares of the company’s stock valued at $115,446,000 after purchasing an additional 82,742 shares during the last quarter. 78.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on MDLZ. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Mondelez International from $79.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Mondelez International from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded Mondelez International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $78.00 to $67.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Citigroup cut their price target 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. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Mondelez International from $74.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mondelez International presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $77.64.

Mondelez International Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MDLZ opened at $56.17 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.42. The company has a market cap of $75.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.92, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.54. Mondelez International, Inc. has a 1 year low of $55.97 and a 1 year high of $77.20. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $62.34 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $67.50.

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

Mondelez International Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a $0.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.35%. Mondelez International’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.67%.

Mondelez International announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to repurchase $9.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 10.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are 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.