Allstate Corp Acquires New Holdings in Mondelez International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDLZ)

Allstate Corp bought a new stake in Mondelez International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDLZ) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 39,836 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,379,000.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd boosted its holdings in Mondelez International by 430.0% in the fourth quarter. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd now owns 92,413 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,520,000 after purchasing an additional 74,975 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank lifted its position in shares of Mondelez International by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 289,931 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,318,000 after buying an additional 17,815 shares during the last quarter. Buckingham Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Mondelez International by 25.5% during the 4th quarter. Buckingham Capital Management Inc. now owns 93,394 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,578,000 after acquiring an additional 18,961 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Private Trust Co. increased its holdings in shares of Mondelez International by 33.2% during the 4th quarter. Legacy Private Trust Co. now owns 3,841 shares of the company’s stock valued at $229,000 after acquiring an additional 957 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kennedy Investment Group bought a new position in shares of Mondelez International in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $313,000. 78.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on MDLZ shares. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Mondelez International from $61.00 to $54.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Mondelez International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $75.00 to $62.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on shares of Mondelez International from $67.00 to $62.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Mondelez International from $75.00 to $69.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on Mondelez International from $76.00 to $63.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Mondelez International presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $69.50.

Mondelez International Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of MDLZ opened at $67.72 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $62.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $64.81. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The stock has a market cap of $87.60 billion, a PE ratio of 19.80, a PEG ratio of 4.34 and a beta of 0.50. Mondelez International, Inc. has a 1 year low of $53.95 and a 1 year high of $76.06.

Mondelez International (NASDAQ:MDLZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.66 by ($0.01). Mondelez International had a return on equity of 16.75% and a net margin of 12.68%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Mondelez International, Inc. will post 2.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mondelez International Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 14th. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.78%. Mondelez International’s dividend payout ratio is 54.97%.

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

About Mondelez International

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.