The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) Shares Sold by Gotham Asset Management LLC

Gotham Asset Management LLC cut its holdings in The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) by 9.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 326,647 shares of the company’s stock after selling 32,570 shares during the period. Gotham Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Kraft Heinz were worth $10,031,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Kraft Heinz by 19.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 90,508,763 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,779,524,000 after acquiring an additional 14,996,486 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Kraft Heinz by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,745,734 shares of the company’s stock valued at $604,644,000 after buying an additional 595,406 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Kraft Heinz in the fourth quarter valued at about $324,857,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Kraft Heinz by 12.6% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 9,289,691 shares of the company’s stock valued at $285,286,000 after buying an additional 1,039,885 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Kraft Heinz by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,525,110 shares of the company’s stock valued at $200,369,000 after buying an additional 174,706 shares during the last quarter. 78.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Kraft Heinz Stock Down 1.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:KHC opened at $28.08 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $29.61 and its 200 day moving average price is $30.38. The stock has a market cap of $33.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.30. The Kraft Heinz Company has a fifty-two week low of $27.25 and a fifty-two week high of $36.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.02. Kraft Heinz had a return on equity of 7.58% and a net margin of 10.62%. The company had revenue of $6 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.02 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.69 earnings per share. Kraft Heinz’s quarterly revenue was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that The Kraft Heinz Company will post 2.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kraft Heinz Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. Kraft Heinz’s dividend payout ratio is presently 73.06%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on KHC. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Kraft Heinz from $37.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. DZ Bank cut Kraft Heinz from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $31.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Friday. Mizuho cut Kraft Heinz from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $38.00 to $31.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Kraft Heinz from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Kraft Heinz from $31.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and fifteen have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $30.65.

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.