HighTower Advisors LLC Sells 48,233 Shares of Mondelez International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDLZ)

HighTower Advisors LLC lowered its position in shares of Mondelez International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDLZ) by 3.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,306,646 shares of the company’s stock after selling 48,233 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Mondelez International were worth $78,046,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new stake in Mondelez International during the third quarter worth about $25,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Mondelez International during the third quarter worth about $27,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Mondelez International during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mondelez International in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mondelez International in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Institutional investors own 78.32% of the company’s stock.

Mondelez International Stock Down 4.2 %

MDLZ stock opened at $64.98 on Thursday. Mondelez International, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $53.95 and a fifty-two week high of $76.06. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $60.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $65.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.68. The company has a market capitalization of $84.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.34 and a beta of 0.50.

Mondelez International (NASDAQ:MDLZ) last issued its quarterly 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, analysts forecast that Mondelez International, Inc. will post 2.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mondelez International announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to repurchase $9.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 10.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Mondelez International Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $0.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.89%. Mondelez International’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.97%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on MDLZ shares. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Mondelez International from $78.00 to $71.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Mondelez International from $76.00 to $63.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Mondelez International from $82.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on Mondelez International from $75.00 to $69.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, DZ Bank downgraded Mondelez International from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $52.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Friday, February 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mondelez International presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $69.74.

About Mondelez International

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.