Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC Grows Stock Holdings in The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC)

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) by 4.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,185 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 767 shares during the quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Kraft Heinz were worth $603,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its position in Kraft Heinz by 1.8% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,638,422 shares of the company’s stock worth $92,635,000 after buying an additional 47,335 shares during the period. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd increased its stake in shares of Kraft Heinz by 16.7% during the 3rd quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd now owns 33,560 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,168,000 after acquiring an additional 4,795 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Kraft Heinz by 43.5% during the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,948 shares of the company’s stock worth $104,000 after acquiring an additional 894 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kraft Heinz in the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Kraft Heinz by 1,760.8% in the third quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 655,312 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,008,000 after purchasing an additional 620,096 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

Kraft Heinz Price Performance

KHC opened at $31.79 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $38.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.64, a PEG ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a 50-day moving average of $34.71 and a 200-day moving average of $34.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 1.06. The Kraft Heinz Company has a 1-year low of $31.58 and a 1-year high of $38.96.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.01. Kraft Heinz had a return on equity of 7.46% and a net margin of 5.24%. The firm had revenue of $6.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.42 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.72 earnings per share. Kraft Heinz’s quarterly revenue was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that The Kraft Heinz Company will post 3.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kraft Heinz Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. Kraft Heinz’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 144.14%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on KHC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Kraft Heinz from $38.00 to $37.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Stifel Nicolaus lowered shares of Kraft Heinz from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $40.00 to $38.00 in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of Kraft Heinz from $43.00 to $41.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered Kraft Heinz from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $39.00 to $35.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on Kraft Heinz from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Kraft Heinz has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $37.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kraft Heinz news, EVP Pedro F. P. Navio sold 45,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.45, for a total value of $1,505,250.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 168,195 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,626,122.75. This trade represents a 21.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Kraft Heinz Company 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.