Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $97.13 Million Stake in Mondelez International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDLZ)

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Mondelez International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDLZ) by 2.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,484,325 shares of the company’s stock after selling 32,830 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.11% of Mondelez International worth $97,134,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Mondelez International in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,231,413,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Mondelez International by 5.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 130,765,846 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,153,609,000 after acquiring an additional 6,696,897 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in shares of Mondelez International by 26.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 30,291,001 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,193,977,000 after purchasing an additional 6,426,928 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Mondelez International by 152.3% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 4,114,581 shares of the company’s stock worth $298,019,000 after purchasing an additional 2,483,972 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Mondelez International by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 36,406,133 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,636,897,000 after purchasing an additional 1,686,229 shares during the period. 78.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MDLZ has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Mondelez International from $80.00 to $76.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Mondelez International from $80.00 to $76.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Mondelez International from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Bank of America dropped their target price on Mondelez International from $82.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, DA Davidson decreased their price target on Mondelez International from $80.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Mondelez International has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $78.61.

Mondelez International Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MDLZ opened at $71.81 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $68.04 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $69.27. Mondelez International, Inc. has a 1-year low of $60.75 and a 1-year high of $77.20. The firm has a market cap of $96.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.53.

Mondelez International (NASDAQ:MDLZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $8.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.45 billion. Mondelez International had a return on equity of 16.69% and a net margin of 10.97%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.76 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Mondelez International, Inc. will post 3.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Mondelez International Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 14th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.47 per share. This is a boost from Mondelez International’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. Mondelez International’s dividend payout ratio is presently 59.68%.

Mondelez International Company Profile

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.