Bank of New York Mellon Corp Sells 61,731 Shares of The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp cut its holdings in shares of The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 9,133,217 shares of the company’s stock after selling 61,731 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp’s holdings in Kraft Heinz were worth $294,272,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Kraft Heinz by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 70,398,831 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,603,349,000 after acquiring an additional 183,234 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its position in Kraft Heinz by 83.4% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 8,709,714 shares of the company’s stock worth $321,388,000 after purchasing an additional 3,961,872 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Kraft Heinz by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,577,285 shares of the company’s stock worth $169,268,000 after purchasing an additional 137,169 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Kraft Heinz by 18.2% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,081,905 shares of the company’s stock worth $113,960,000 after acquiring an additional 474,758 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in Kraft Heinz by 56.7% during the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,840,148 shares of the company’s stock worth $104,929,000 after acquiring an additional 1,027,636 shares in the last quarter. 78.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Kraft Heinz from $38.00 to $37.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Barclays increased their price target on Kraft Heinz from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Citigroup cut their target price on Kraft Heinz from $42.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Kraft Heinz in a research note on Monday, August 12th. They set a “sell” rating and a $34.00 price target for the company. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of Kraft Heinz from $42.00 to $38.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $37.31.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Cory Onell sold 4,076 shares of Kraft Heinz stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.00, for a total value of $146,736.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 143,970 shares in the company, valued at $5,182,920. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Kraft Heinz Stock Performance

Shares of KHC opened at $35.93 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $43.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.69, a PEG ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $33.60 and a 200 day moving average of $35.05. The Kraft Heinz Company has a 12 month low of $30.68 and a 12 month high of $38.96.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.05. Kraft Heinz had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 7.38%. The company had revenue of $6.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.55 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.79 EPS. Kraft Heinz’s revenue was down 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Kraft Heinz Company will post 3.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Kraft Heinz Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, August 30th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 30th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.45%. Kraft Heinz’s dividend payout ratio is 69.87%.

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.