Guinness Asset Management LTD Acquires 152,537 Shares of Mondelez International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDLZ)

Guinness Asset Management LTD raised its holdings in Mondelez International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDLZ) by 5.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 3,065,411 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 152,537 shares during the period. Mondelez International makes up about 3.4% of Guinness Asset Management LTD’s holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Guinness Asset Management LTD’s holdings in Mondelez International were worth $183,062,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Mondelez International by 3.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 60,151,987 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,459,239,000 after buying an additional 1,851,247 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position 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 worth $2,069,906,000 after acquiring an additional 341,203 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Mondelez International by 14.2% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,255,657 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,344,894,000 after purchasing an additional 2,268,639 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in Mondelez International by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 17,215,182 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,268,242,000 after purchasing an additional 489,068 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its position in Mondelez International by 12,057.4% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 12,574,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $926,327,000 after purchasing an additional 12,470,573 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.32% of the company’s stock.

Mondelez International Price Performance

Shares of MDLZ opened at $57.86 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $77.37 billion, a PE ratio of 20.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.54. Mondelez International, Inc. has a 52-week low of $55.97 and a 52-week high of $77.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a current ratio of 0.63. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $61.59 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $67.25.

Mondelez International (NASDAQ:MDLZ) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.85 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $9.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.11 billion. Mondelez International had a net margin of 10.58% and a return on equity of 17.53%. Mondelez International’s quarterly revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.82 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Mondelez International, Inc. will post 3.48 EPS for the current year.

Mondelez International announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to buyback $9.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to buy up to 10.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Mondelez International Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a $0.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.25%. Mondelez International’s dividend payout ratio is presently 66.67%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MDLZ has been the subject of several recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded Mondelez International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $78.00 to $67.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of Mondelez International from $84.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Mondelez International from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Mondelez International from $79.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Mondelez International from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $74.93.

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.