Wright Investors Service Inc. Decreases Stake in Mondelez International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDLZ)

Wright Investors Service Inc. decreased its position in Mondelez International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDLZ) by 9.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,234 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,082 shares during the quarter. Wright Investors Service Inc.’s holdings in Mondelez International were worth $1,209,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MDLZ. Axiom Advisory LLC grew its stake in Mondelez International by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Axiom Advisory LLC now owns 9,152 shares of the company’s stock worth $643,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares during the period. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. boosted its holdings 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 worth $78,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel grew its position in shares of Mondelez International by 1.4% in the third quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 11,007 shares of the company’s stock valued at $811,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares during the period. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Mondelez International by 1.3% in the third 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Quent Capital LLC lifted its position in Mondelez International by 5.5% during the third 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.32% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Mondelez International from $79.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on shares of Mondelez International in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $82.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Mondelez International from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Citigroup cut their target price on Mondelez International from $78.00 to $71.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered Mondelez International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $78.00 to $67.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $77.64.

Mondelez International Price Performance

MDLZ opened at $56.17 on Tuesday. Mondelez International, Inc. has a twelve month low of $55.97 and a twelve month high of $77.20. The firm 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. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $62.34 and a 200 day simple moving average of $67.50.

Mondelez International (NASDAQ:MDLZ) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.99 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.14. Mondelez International had a return on equity of 17.53% and a net margin of 10.58%. The company had revenue of $9.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.11 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.82 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Mondelez International, Inc. will post 3.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mondelez International Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.47 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.35%. Mondelez International’s dividend payout ratio is presently 66.67%.

Mondelez International declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to buyback $9.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 10.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.