Aptus Capital Advisors LLC Sells 785 Shares of The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC)

Aptus Capital Advisors LLC lessened its position in The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) by 7.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,112 shares of the company’s stock after selling 785 shares during the quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Kraft Heinz were worth $320,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Clifford Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Kraft Heinz by 21.4% in the second quarter. Clifford Capital Partners LLC now owns 454,884 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,656,000 after buying an additional 80,101 shares in the last quarter. Easterly Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Kraft Heinz by 39.4% during the third quarter. Easterly Investment Partners LLC now owns 157,479 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,529,000 after buying an additional 44,485 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Kraft Heinz by 13.2% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 2,006,917 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,053,000 after buying an additional 234,783 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Kraft Heinz by 1,760.8% during the third quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 655,312 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,008,000 after buying an additional 620,096 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smith Thornton Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Kraft Heinz during the second quarter valued at approximately $654,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Pedro F. P. Navio sold 45,000 shares of Kraft Heinz stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.45, for a total transaction of $1,505,250.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 168,195 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,626,122.75. The trade was a 21.11 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Kraft Heinz Price Performance

NASDAQ:KHC opened at $31.14 on Friday. The Kraft Heinz Company has a 52 week low of $30.40 and a 52 week high of $38.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.65 billion, a PE ratio of 28.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.67 and a beta of 0.49. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $34.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $34.46.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.01. Kraft Heinz had a return on equity of 7.46% and a net margin of 5.24%. The company had revenue of $6.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.42 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.72 EPS. Kraft Heinz’s revenue was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that The Kraft Heinz Company will post 3.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kraft Heinz Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. Kraft Heinz’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 144.14%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KHC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on Kraft Heinz from $42.00 to $38.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered Kraft Heinz from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $39.00 to $35.00 in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Kraft Heinz from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Kraft Heinz from $38.00 to $37.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Kraft Heinz from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $37.00.

Kraft Heinz Profile

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.