Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC Trims Holdings in Mondelez International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDLZ)

Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC lowered its stake in shares of Mondelez International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDLZ) by 2.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,898 shares of the company’s stock after selling 371 shares during the quarter. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Mondelez International were worth $830,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Mondelez International by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 132,437,250 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,910,477,000 after purchasing an additional 931,776 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC grew its stake in Mondelez International by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 1,521,753 shares of the company’s stock worth $90,894,000 after purchasing an additional 91,361 shares in the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in Mondelez International in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,919,000. AXQ Capital LP raised its stake in Mondelez International by 200.2% during the fourth quarter. AXQ Capital LP now owns 27,004 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,613,000 after buying an additional 18,010 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in Mondelez International by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 6,323,554 shares of the company’s stock worth $377,706,000 after buying an additional 21,473 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.32% of the company’s stock.

Mondelez International Trading Up 0.7 %

Mondelez International stock opened at $64.95 on Tuesday. Mondelez International, Inc. has a 1 year low of $53.95 and a 1 year high of $76.06. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $61.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $64.99. The firm has a market cap of $84.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.34 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.68.

Mondelez International (NASDAQ:MDLZ) last announced its earnings results 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 return on equity of 16.75% and a net margin of 12.68%. On average, research analysts predict that Mondelez International, Inc. will post 2.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mondelez International Announces Dividend

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

Mondelez International announced that its Board of Directors has approved 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 reacquire up to 10.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on MDLZ. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Mondelez International from $68.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Mondelez International from $78.00 to $71.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Mondelez International from $61.00 to $54.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Mondelez International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $75.00 to $62.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of Mondelez International from $75.00 to $69.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Mondelez International presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $69.70.

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.