Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Decreases Stock Position in Mondelez International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDLZ)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lowered its stake in Mondelez International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDLZ) by 22.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 153,576 shares of the company’s stock after selling 44,388 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Mondelez International were worth $9,260,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. United Bank raised its position in shares of Mondelez International by 12.7% during the 3rd quarter. United Bank now owns 22,649 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,669,000 after buying an additional 2,549 shares in the last quarter. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Mondelez International during the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. LPL Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Mondelez International by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 1,430,392 shares of the company’s stock valued at $105,377,000 after buying an additional 49,146 shares in the last quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Mondelez International during the 3rd quarter valued at about $296,000. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Mondelez International by 8.8% during the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 249,754 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,399,000 after buying an additional 20,197 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.32% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Mondelez International from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. DZ Bank lowered shares of Mondelez International from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $52.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Friday, February 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of Mondelez International from $68.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Dbs Bank lowered shares of Mondelez International from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Mondelez International from $69.00 to $63.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $69.74.

Mondelez International Price Performance

NASDAQ MDLZ opened at $64.51 on Friday. 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 firm’s 50 day moving average price is $61.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $65.13. Mondelez International, Inc. has a 52-week low of $53.95 and a 52-week high of $76.06. The company has a market cap of $83.45 billion, a PE ratio of 18.86, a P/E/G ratio of 4.34 and a beta of 0.50.

Mondelez International (NASDAQ:MDLZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by ($0.01). Mondelez International had a net margin of 12.68% and a return on equity of 16.75%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Mondelez International, Inc. will post 2.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mondelez International Announces Dividend

The company 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 $0.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.91%. Mondelez International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.97%.

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

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.