Mondelez International, Inc. $MDLZ Stock: Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Lowers Position

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. lowered its position in shares of Mondelez International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDLZ) by 9.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 328,016 shares of the company’s stock after selling 32,388 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Mondelez International were worth $18,966,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Baird Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Mondelez International by 5.1% in the 2nd quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 354,894 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,527,000 after purchasing an additional 17,248 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Mondelez International by 10.1% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,131,640 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,228,000 after purchasing an additional 103,778 shares during the last quarter. Ethic Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Mondelez International by 21.5% during the 2nd quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 235,350 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,613,000 after purchasing an additional 41,601 shares during the last quarter. Amundi grew its holdings in shares of Mondelez International by 18.0% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 3,243,030 shares of the company’s stock valued at $186,928,000 after purchasing an additional 494,996 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service raised its position in Mondelez International by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 3,464,597 shares of the company’s stock worth $200,392,000 after purchasing an additional 60,973 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 78.32% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Mondelez International from $72.00 to $71.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 16th. BNP Paribas Exane raised their price objective on Mondelez International from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 30th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Mondelez International in a report on Friday, October 30th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $72.00 price objective on shares of Mondelez International in a report on Monday, November 2nd. Finally, HSBC boosted their target price on Mondelez International from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $69.30.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Dirk Van de Put sold 133,580 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.08, for a total value of $8,559,806.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,326,488 shares in the company, valued at $85,001,351.04. This represents a 9.15% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 392,150 shares of company stock worth $25,893,046 in the last ninety days. 0.45% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Mondelez International Stock Performance

Shares of MDLZ stock opened at $66.70 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.04, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.34. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $62.35 and a 200 day moving average of $60.70. Mondelez International, Inc. has a 52 week low of $51.20 and a 52 week high of $68.75. The company has a quick ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Mondelez International (NASDAQ:MDLZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The company reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.07. Mondelez International had a net margin of 10.22% and a return on equity of 14.18%. The company had revenue of $9.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.98 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.73 earnings per share. Mondelez International’s revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Mondelez International, Inc. will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current year.

About Mondelez International

Mondelez International, Inc. is a global snacking company that makes and markets biscuits, chocolate, candy, gum and other snack products. Its brands include Oreo, Ritz, LU, belVita, Cadbury, Milka, Toblerone and Sour Patch Kids. The company sells its products in countries around the world, with a particularly strong presence in Europe and emerging markets. Mondelez was created in 2012 when Kraft Foods separated its international snacks business from its North American grocery business. Dirk Van de Put has served as Mondelez’s chairman and chief executive officer since 2017.