Prospector Partners LLC Increases Position in Mondelez International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDLZ)

Prospector Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Mondelez International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDLZ) by 0.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 229,145 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 504 shares during the quarter. Mondelez International comprises about 1.5% of Prospector Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Prospector Partners LLC’s holdings in Mondelez International were worth $13,687,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Mondelez International by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 132,437,250 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,910,477,000 after purchasing an additional 931,776 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Mondelez International by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 28,913,478 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,721,954,000 after purchasing an additional 708,523 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Mondelez International in the fourth quarter worth $1,118,755,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of Mondelez International by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 17,423,363 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,040,697,000 after purchasing an additional 208,181 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Mondelez International by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 10,354,236 shares of the company’s stock valued at $618,458,000 after buying an additional 326,177 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.32% of the company’s stock.

Mondelez International Price Performance

NASDAQ:MDLZ opened at $66.31 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $85.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.34 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $63.25 and a 200-day moving average price of $64.54. Mondelez International, Inc. has a 1-year low of $53.95 and a 1-year high of $76.06.

Mondelez International (NASDAQ:MDLZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.66 by ($0.01). Mondelez International had a return on equity of 16.75% and a net margin of 12.68%. Equities research analysts forecast that Mondelez International, Inc. will post 2.9 EPS for the current year.

Mondelez International Announces Dividend

The business 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 2.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Mondelez International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.97%.

Mondelez International declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to buyback $9.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 10.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MDLZ has been the topic of several analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group cut Mondelez International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $75.00 to $62.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. UBS Group lowered their price target on Mondelez International from $76.00 to $63.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on shares of Mondelez International from $67.00 to $62.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Mondelez International from $82.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of Mondelez International from $68.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mondelez International currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $70.20.

Mondelez International Company 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.