Kellogg W. K. Foundation Trust Sells 114,583 Shares of Kellanova (NYSE:K) Stock

Kellanova (NYSE:K) major shareholder Kellogg W. K. Foundation Trust sold 114,583 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.68, for a total transaction of $9,244,556.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 50,253,689 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,054,467,628.52. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Major shareholders that own 10% or more of a company’s stock are required to disclose their sales and purchases with the SEC.

Kellanova Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of Kellanova stock traded down $0.19 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $80.62. 1,642,554 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,285,829. The company has a market cap of $27.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.39. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $72.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $63.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.73. Kellanova has a 52 week low of $47.63 and a 52 week high of $80.97.

Kellanova (NYSE:K) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $3.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.15 billion. Kellanova had a net margin of 6.72% and a return on equity of 36.74%. Kellanova’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.25 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Kellanova will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kellanova Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were given a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.83%. This is a positive change from Kellanova’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.56. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 3rd. Kellanova’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 85.39%.

Institutional Trading of Kellanova

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of K. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. grew its position in Kellanova by 766.5% in the 2nd quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 1,881,625 shares of the company’s stock worth $108,532,000 after purchasing an additional 1,664,461 shares during the last quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Kellanova in the second quarter worth about $88,065,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Kellanova by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 32,150,331 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,797,525,000 after acquiring an additional 1,130,582 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of Kellanova in the second quarter worth about $63,585,000. Finally, Boston Partners raised its stake in shares of Kellanova by 117.1% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,278,079 shares of the company’s stock worth $73,221,000 after acquiring an additional 689,395 shares during the last quarter. 83.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

K has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI raised shares of Kellanova to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Bank of America raised shares of Kellanova from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $62.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada downgraded shares of Kellanova from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $76.00 to $83.50 in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of Kellanova from $76.00 to $83.50 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Kellanova in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $74.32.

About Kellanova

Kellanova, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and markets snacks and convenience foods in North America, Europe, Latin America, the Asia Pacific, the Middle East, Australia, and Africa. Its principal products include crackers, crisps, savory snacks, toaster pastries, cereal bars, granola bars and bites, ready-to-eat cereals, frozen waffles, veggie foods, and noodles.