Campbell Soup (NASDAQ:CPB) Given New $40.00 Price Target at Stifel Nicolaus

Campbell Soup (NASDAQ:CPB) had its price target dropped by stock analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from $47.00 to $40.00 in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “hold” rating on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ price objective suggests a potential upside of 2.38% from the company’s previous close.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on CPB. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Campbell Soup from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $55.00 to $58.00 in a report on Monday, October 7th. StockNews.com raised shares of Campbell Soup from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Campbell Soup from $45.00 to $43.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays cut their target price on Campbell Soup from $49.00 to $46.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Stephens restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Campbell Soup in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Campbell Soup presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $50.17.

Campbell Soup Stock Up 1.2 %

NASDAQ CPB traded up $0.48 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $39.07. 496,281 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,550,012. Campbell Soup has a 52-week low of $37.61 and a 52-week high of $52.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.50. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $42.19 and a 200 day simple moving average of $46.13. The firm has a market cap of $11.65 billion, a PE ratio of 21.36, a PEG ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.19.

Campbell Soup (NASDAQ:CPB) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.87 by $0.02. Campbell Soup had a net margin of 5.57% and a return on equity of 23.79%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Campbell Soup will post 3.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Anthony Sanzio sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.90, for a total value of $83,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $693,486.90. This represents a 10.78 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 20.19% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Campbell Soup

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CPB. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Campbell Soup by 1,593.8% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,904,440 shares of the company’s stock worth $91,623,000 after buying an additional 1,792,005 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Campbell Soup by 88.2% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,192,610 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,342,000 after acquiring an additional 558,944 shares during the period. Galvin Gaustad & Stein LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Campbell Soup during the fourth quarter worth about $14,769,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Campbell Soup by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,265,615 shares of the company’s stock valued at $256,827,000 after purchasing an additional 322,951 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Campbell Soup by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,048,679 shares of the company’s stock worth $491,581,000 after purchasing an additional 298,203 shares in the last quarter. 52.35% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Campbell Soup

Campbell Soup Company, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and markets food and beverage products in the United States and internationally. The company operates through Meals & Beverages and Snacks segments. The Meals & Beverages segment engages in the retail and foodservice businesses in the United States and Canada.