HighTower Advisors LLC Sells 72,560 Shares of The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC)

HighTower Advisors LLC trimmed its position in The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) by 21.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 258,712 shares of the company’s stock after selling 72,560 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Kraft Heinz were worth $7,945,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KHC. Sawyer & Company Inc purchased a new position in Kraft Heinz in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its position in Kraft Heinz by 191.0% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 969 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 636 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in Kraft Heinz in the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Kraft Heinz during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Hara Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Kraft Heinz by 61.9% during the fourth quarter. Hara Capital LLC now owns 1,700 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 650 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on KHC. Bank of America lowered Kraft Heinz from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $36.00 to $30.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. UBS Group dropped their target price on Kraft Heinz from $37.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. StockNews.com upgraded Kraft Heinz from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Kraft Heinz from $31.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Mizuho lowered Kraft Heinz from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $38.00 to $31.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and thirteen have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Kraft Heinz presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $30.86.

Kraft Heinz Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:KHC opened at $30.66 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $36.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.40. The Kraft Heinz Company has a 52 week low of $27.25 and a 52 week high of $38.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $29.88 and a 200 day moving average of $32.06.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.06. Kraft Heinz had a net margin of 10.62% and a return on equity of 7.58%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that The Kraft Heinz Company will post 2.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kraft Heinz Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Kraft Heinz’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 70.80%.

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.