Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Has $361.84 Million Stock Position in Mondelez International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDLZ)

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Mondelez International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDLZ) by 2.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,057,873 shares of the company’s stock after selling 169,632 shares during the period. Mondelez International accounts for 1.9% of Bahl & Gaynor Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Bahl & Gaynor Inc.’s holdings in Mondelez International were worth $361,837,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp increased its position in Mondelez International by 3.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 60,151,987 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,459,239,000 after buying an additional 1,851,247 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Mondelez International by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 28,204,955 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,069,906,000 after acquiring an additional 341,203 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in Mondelez International by 14.2% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,255,657 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,344,894,000 after acquiring an additional 2,268,639 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in Mondelez International by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 17,215,182 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,268,242,000 after purchasing an additional 489,068 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its position in Mondelez International by 12,057.4% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 12,574,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $926,327,000 after purchasing an additional 12,470,573 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.32% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MDLZ. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of Mondelez International from $68.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Mondelez International from $82.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on Mondelez International from $67.00 to $62.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on Mondelez International from $75.00 to $69.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price target on Mondelez International from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $69.74.

Mondelez International Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MDLZ opened at $65.78 on Tuesday. Mondelez International, Inc. has a 1 year low of $53.95 and a 1 year high of $76.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $85.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.34 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $59.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $65.64.

Mondelez International (NASDAQ:MDLZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.66 by ($0.01). Mondelez International had a net margin of 12.68% and a return on equity of 16.75%. As a group, research analysts predict that Mondelez International, Inc. will post 2.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mondelez International Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.86%. Mondelez International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.97%.

Mondelez International declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to buyback $9.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 10.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

About Mondelez International

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.