Magnetar Financial LLC Increases Holdings in Mondelez International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDLZ)

Magnetar Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Mondelez International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDLZ) by 355.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 70,307 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 54,864 shares during the quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC’s holdings in Mondelez International were worth $4,199,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd raised its position in Mondelez International by 430.0% in the 4th quarter. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd now owns 92,413 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,520,000 after purchasing an additional 74,975 shares during the period. Czech National Bank raised its position in Mondelez International by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 289,931 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,318,000 after purchasing an additional 17,815 shares during the period. Buckingham Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Mondelez International by 25.5% in the 4th quarter. Buckingham Capital Management Inc. now owns 93,394 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,578,000 after purchasing an additional 18,961 shares during the period. Legacy Private Trust Co. raised its position in Mondelez International by 33.2% in the 4th quarter. Legacy Private Trust Co. now owns 3,841 shares of the company’s stock worth $229,000 after purchasing an additional 957 shares during the period. Finally, Kennedy Investment Group purchased a new stake in Mondelez International in the 4th quarter worth about $313,000. 78.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MDLZ. Dbs Bank lowered shares of Mondelez International from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Mondelez International from $82.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of Mondelez International from $68.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Mondelez International from $76.00 to $63.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered shares of Mondelez International from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $70.00 to $63.00 in a research report on Friday, January 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $69.74.

Mondelez International Price Performance

Shares of MDLZ opened at $63.95 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $82.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.34 and a beta of 0.50. Mondelez International, Inc. has a twelve month low of $53.95 and a twelve month high of $76.06. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The company has a 50 day moving average of $61.18 and a two-hundred day moving average of $65.23.

Mondelez International (NASDAQ:MDLZ) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.66 by ($0.01). Mondelez International had a net margin of 12.68% and a return on equity of 16.75%. As a group, analysts predict that Mondelez International, Inc. will post 2.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mondelez International Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.94%. Mondelez International’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.97%.

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

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.