Bridgewater Associates LP Sells 937,984 Shares of The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC)

Bridgewater Associates LP cut its stake in shares of The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) by 75.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 298,413 shares of the company’s stock after selling 937,984 shares during the quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP’s holdings in Kraft Heinz were worth $10,477,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Kraft Heinz by 11.5% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,307,598 shares of the company’s stock worth $186,350,000 after purchasing an additional 545,504 shares during the period. Clifford Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Kraft Heinz by 21.4% during the 2nd quarter. Clifford Capital Partners LLC now owns 454,884 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,656,000 after buying an additional 80,101 shares in the last quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise increased its stake in shares of Kraft Heinz by 52.5% during the third quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 170,511 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,988,000 after buying an additional 58,665 shares during the period. Easterly Investment Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Kraft Heinz by 39.4% in the third quarter. Easterly Investment Partners LLC now owns 157,479 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,529,000 after acquiring an additional 44,485 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its stake 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 worth $23,008,000 after acquiring an additional 620,096 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KHC has been the subject of several recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus lowered shares of Kraft Heinz from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $40.00 to $38.00 in a report on Friday, October 25th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Kraft Heinz from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Barclays lowered their target price on Kraft Heinz from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded Kraft Heinz from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the company from $39.00 to $35.00 in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $35.00 price objective (down previously from $40.00) on shares of Kraft Heinz in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Kraft Heinz presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $36.55.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Pedro F. P. Navio sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $5,626,122.75. This represents a 21.11 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.37% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Kraft Heinz Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ KHC opened at $31.93 on Friday. The Kraft Heinz Company has a fifty-two week low of $30.40 and a fifty-two week high of $38.96. 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 company has a market cap of $38.61 billion, a PE ratio of 28.77, a P/E/G ratio of 3.66 and a beta of 0.49. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $33.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $34.16.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $6.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.42 billion. Kraft Heinz had a net margin of 5.24% and a return on equity of 7.46%. Kraft Heinz’s revenue was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.72 EPS. As a group, 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.01%. Kraft Heinz’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 144.14%.

About Kraft Heinz

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.