Venturi Wealth Management LLC Purchases 2,174 Shares of The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC)

Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) by 73.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,122 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,174 shares during the quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Kraft Heinz were worth $157,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Kraft Heinz in the 3rd quarter valued at $411,304,000. State Street Corp raised its holdings 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 buying an additional 6,366,732 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Kraft Heinz by 11.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,150,328 shares of the company’s stock worth $669,821,000 after buying an additional 1,944,019 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in shares of Kraft Heinz by 16.3% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 8,813,268 shares of the company’s stock worth $269,906,000 after buying an additional 1,238,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in shares of Kraft Heinz by 1,139.3% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,273,579 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,112,000 after buying an additional 1,170,814 shares in the last quarter. 78.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on KHC shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Kraft Heinz from $32.00 to $28.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Kraft Heinz from $31.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup cut Kraft Heinz from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $34.00 to $28.00 in a report on Thursday, February 13th. UBS Group reduced their price target on Kraft Heinz from $37.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Evercore ISI restated an “in-line” rating and set a $35.00 target price (down previously from $38.00) on shares of Kraft Heinz in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and twelve have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $30.86.

Kraft Heinz Stock Up 3.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:KHC opened at $31.13 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $29.73 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $32.54. The firm has a market cap of $37.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.77, a PEG ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 1.06. The Kraft Heinz Company has a 52-week low of $27.25 and a 52-week high of $38.96.

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

Kraft Heinz Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.14%. 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.