Salem Investment Counselors Inc. Sells 666 Shares of Mondelez International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDLZ)

Salem Investment Counselors Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Mondelez International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDLZ) by 0.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 94,852 shares of the company’s stock after selling 666 shares during the quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Mondelez International were worth $5,710,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp grew its stake in Mondelez International by 3.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 60,151,987 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,459,239,000 after purchasing an additional 1,851,247 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew 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 period. FMR LLC grew its stake in Mondelez International by 14.2% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,255,657 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,344,894,000 after purchasing an additional 2,268,639 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in Mondelez International by 2.9% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 17,215,182 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,268,242,000 after purchasing an additional 489,068 shares during the period. Finally, Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 12,470,573 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 78.32% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on MDLZ shares. Citigroup reduced their price target on Mondelez International from $78.00 to $71.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Redburn Atlantic began coverage on Mondelez International in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $82.00 target price on the stock. Bank of America increased their target price on Mondelez International from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Mondelez International from $79.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded Mondelez International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $78.00 to $67.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Mondelez International presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $77.64.

Mondelez International Price Performance

NASDAQ MDLZ traded up $0.26 during trading on Monday, hitting $56.51. 8,970,128 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,915,986. The company has a market capitalization of $75.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.54. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $62.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $67.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. Mondelez International, Inc. has a 12-month low of $55.97 and a 12-month high of $77.20.

Mondelez International (NASDAQ:MDLZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.99 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $9.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.11 billion. Mondelez International had a return on equity of 17.53% and a net margin of 10.58%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.82 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Mondelez International, Inc. will post 3.48 EPS for the current year.

Mondelez International Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.47 per share. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. Mondelez International’s dividend payout ratio is presently 66.67%.

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

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.