Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Sells 2,647 Shares of The Campbell Soup Company (NASDAQ:CPB)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of The Campbell Soup Company (NASDAQ:CPB) by 9.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 25,665 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,647 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Campbell Soup were worth $1,075,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CPB. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Campbell Soup by 1,593.8% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,904,440 shares of the company’s stock valued at $91,623,000 after buying an additional 1,792,005 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Campbell Soup by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 9,247,213 shares of the company’s stock valued at $387,273,000 after purchasing an additional 531,281 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Campbell Soup in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $21,312,000. Amundi boosted its holdings in shares of Campbell Soup by 23.9% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,958,238 shares of the company’s stock valued at $76,823,000 after purchasing an additional 377,307 shares during the period. Finally, Galvin Gaustad & Stein LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Campbell Soup in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $14,769,000. Institutional investors own 52.35% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on CPB shares. DA Davidson lowered their target price on Campbell Soup from $46.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Campbell Soup from $47.00 to $40.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Campbell Soup from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on Campbell Soup from $51.00 to $44.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Campbell Soup from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $48.00 to $37.00 in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Campbell Soup currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $45.23.

Campbell Soup Price Performance

NASDAQ CPB opened at $38.42 on Friday. 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 stock’s fifty day moving average price is $39.16 and its 200 day moving average price is $43.88. The Campbell Soup Company has a 1 year low of $36.92 and a 1 year high of $52.81. The company has a market cap of $11.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.99, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.15.

Campbell Soup (NASDAQ:CPB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 5th. The company reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $2.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.74 billion. Campbell Soup had a return on equity of 23.79% and a net margin of 5.57%. Campbell Soup’s quarterly revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that The Campbell Soup Company will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Campbell Soup Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 28th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.06%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. Campbell Soup’s dividend payout ratio is currently 90.17%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Campbell Soup news, EVP Anthony Sanzio sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.90, for a total transaction of $83,800.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $693,486.90. This trade represents a 10.78 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 20.19% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Campbell Soup Company Profile

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.