ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. Buys 16,168 Shares of Mondelez International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDLZ)

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. increased its stake in Mondelez International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDLZ) by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 674,877 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 16,168 shares during the period. Mondelez International makes up about 1.7% of ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Mondelez International were worth $40,310,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Mondelez International by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 60,151,987 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,459,239,000 after acquiring an additional 1,851,247 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Mondelez International by 1.2% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 28,204,955 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,069,906,000 after purchasing an additional 341,203 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Mondelez International by 14.2% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,255,657 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,344,894,000 after buying an additional 2,268,639 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in shares of Mondelez International by 2.9% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 17,215,182 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,268,242,000 after buying an additional 489,068 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its holdings in shares of Mondelez International by 12,057.4% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 12,574,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $926,327,000 after buying an additional 12,470,573 shares during the period. 78.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mondelez International Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ MDLZ opened at $57.86 on Tuesday. Mondelez International, Inc. has a 12-month low of $55.97 and a 12-month high of $77.20. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $61.59 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $67.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $77.37 billion, a PE ratio of 20.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

Mondelez International (NASDAQ:MDLZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.99 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.85 by $0.14. Mondelez International had a return on equity of 17.53% and a net margin of 10.58%. The company had revenue of $9.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.11 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.82 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Mondelez International, Inc. will post 3.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mondelez International announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to buyback $9.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 10.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Mondelez International Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a $0.47 dividend. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.25%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. Mondelez International’s payout ratio is currently 66.67%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on MDLZ shares. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Mondelez International from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Mondelez International from $79.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Mondelez International from $76.00 to $63.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of Mondelez International from $84.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $61.00 target price (down from $74.00) on shares of Mondelez International in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $74.93.

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.