Pilgrim’s Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC) Shares Sold by Blue Trust Inc.

Blue Trust Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC) by 8.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 2,930 shares of the company’s stock after selling 267 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Pilgrim’s Pride were worth $133,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Pilgrim’s Pride by 1,289.4% during the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 5,225,216 shares of the company’s stock worth $240,621,000 after purchasing an additional 4,849,147 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its position in Pilgrim’s Pride by 903.9% in the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,455,513 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,026,000 after buying an additional 1,310,530 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Pilgrim’s Pride by 1.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 881,900 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,620,000 after buying an additional 11,128 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in Pilgrim’s Pride by 145,879.0% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 827,701 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,116,000 after buying an additional 827,134 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in Pilgrim’s Pride by 88.3% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 433,891 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,981,000 after buying an additional 203,408 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 16.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on PPC shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday. Barclays boosted their price objective on Pilgrim’s Pride from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $45.50.

Pilgrim’s Pride Stock Performance

Shares of PPC opened at $53.13 on Friday. Pilgrim’s Pride Co. has a 52-week low of $28.49 and a 52-week high of $57.16. The company has a quick ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The company has a market capitalization of $12.60 billion, a PE ratio of 11.65 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $47.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $47.21.

About Pilgrim’s Pride

Pilgrim’s Pride Corp. engages in the production, processing, marketing, and distribution of fresh, frozen and value-added chicken and pork products to retailers, distributors, and foodservice operators. It operates through the following segments: U.S., U.K. and Europe, and Mexico. The company was founded by Lonnie A.