LPL Financial LLC Acquires 91,361 Shares of Mondelez International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDLZ)

LPL Financial LLC lifted its holdings in Mondelez International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDLZ) by 6.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,521,753 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 91,361 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC’s holdings in Mondelez International were worth $90,894,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MDLZ. State Street Corp boosted its position in Mondelez International by 3.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 60,151,987 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,459,239,000 after buying an additional 1,851,247 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Mondelez International by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 28,204,955 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,069,906,000 after acquiring an additional 341,203 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Mondelez International by 14.2% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,255,657 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,344,894,000 after acquiring an additional 2,268,639 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in Mondelez International by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 10,354,236 shares of the company’s stock worth $618,458,000 after acquiring an additional 326,177 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in Mondelez International by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 8,878,471 shares of the company’s stock worth $654,077,000 after purchasing an additional 59,098 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.32% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MDLZ. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Mondelez International from $78.00 to $71.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. DZ Bank lowered shares of Mondelez International from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $52.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Friday, February 7th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Mondelez International from $82.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Argus cut Mondelez International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Mizuho increased their price objective on Mondelez International from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $69.70.

Mondelez International Price Performance

Shares of MDLZ opened at $64.69 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $83.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.34 and a beta of 0.50. Mondelez International, Inc. has a twelve month low of $53.95 and a twelve month high of $76.06. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $61.67 and a 200 day moving average of $64.91.

Mondelez International (NASDAQ:MDLZ) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by ($0.01). Mondelez International had a return on equity of 16.75% and a net margin of 12.68%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Mondelez International, Inc. will post 2.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mondelez International Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.47 per share. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.91%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Mondelez International’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.97%.

Mondelez International declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to buyback $9.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 10.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership 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.