Mondelez International (NASDAQ:MDLZ) Earns Overweight Rating from Analysts at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Mondelez International (NASDAQ:MDLZ) in a research report sent to investors on Monday, Marketbeat reports. The firm issued an overweight rating and a $69.00 price objective on the stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on MDLZ. 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 note on Friday, January 24th. DZ Bank lowered shares of Mondelez International from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $52.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Friday, February 7th. UBS Group decreased their price objective 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 cut shares of Mondelez International from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the company from $70.00 to $63.00 in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Dbs Bank lowered Mondelez International from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $69.70.

Mondelez International Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MDLZ opened at $66.33 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $85.80 billion, a PE ratio of 19.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.34 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. Mondelez International has a 12-month low of $53.95 and a 12-month high of $76.06. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $61.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $64.92.

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

Mondelez International declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to repurchase $9.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 10.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Mondelez International Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 14th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.47 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.83%. Mondelez International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.97%.

Institutional Trading of Mondelez International

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. United Bank grew its stake in Mondelez International by 12.7% in the third quarter. United Bank now owns 22,649 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,669,000 after acquiring an additional 2,549 shares during the period. Meridian Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Mondelez International during the 3rd quarter valued at about $615,000. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of Mondelez International by 82.7% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 2,811 shares of the company’s stock valued at $207,000 after purchasing an additional 1,272 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its stake in Mondelez International by 11.6% during the 3rd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 249,067 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,349,000 after purchasing an additional 25,833 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Mondelez International by 11.8% during the 3rd quarter. Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC now owns 12,280 shares of the company’s stock worth $905,000 after buying an additional 1,300 shares during the period. 78.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.