The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) Shares Sold by Swiss National Bank

Swiss National Bank lowered its position in shares of The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) by 5.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,561,742 shares of the company’s stock after selling 141,100 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned approximately 0.21% of Kraft Heinz worth $78,671,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Kraft Heinz during the third quarter worth $411,304,000. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Kraft Heinz by 16.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 44,400,402 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,558,898,000 after purchasing an additional 6,366,732 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Kraft Heinz by 11.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,150,328 shares of the company’s stock valued at $669,821,000 after buying an additional 1,944,019 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Kraft Heinz in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,339,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of Kraft Heinz by 16.3% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 8,813,268 shares of the company’s stock valued at $269,906,000 after acquiring an additional 1,238,200 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KHC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Kraft Heinz from $31.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Evercore ISI restated an “in-line” rating and set a $35.00 price target (down from $38.00) on shares of Kraft Heinz in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Kraft Heinz from $32.00 to $28.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Kraft Heinz from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Kraft Heinz from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and thirteen have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $30.86.

Kraft Heinz Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of Kraft Heinz stock opened at $30.23 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The Kraft Heinz Company has a 52-week low of $27.25 and a 52-week high of $38.96. The company has a market capitalization of $36.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.38, a P/E/G ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a 50 day moving average of $29.86 and a 200 day moving average of $32.14.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.06. Kraft Heinz had a net margin of 10.62% and a return on equity of 7.58%. As a group, research analysts forecast that The Kraft Heinz Company will post 2.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kraft Heinz Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.29%. Kraft Heinz’s payout ratio is currently 70.80%.

Kraft Heinz Profile

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.