Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Raises Stock Position in Mondelez International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDLZ)

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. grew its stake in shares of Mondelez International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDLZ) by 1.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,832,772 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 62,595 shares during the quarter. Mondelez International comprises 2.5% of Bahl & Gaynor Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. owned about 0.43% of Mondelez International worth $422,468,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MDLZ. Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc. boosted its holdings in Mondelez International by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc. now owns 3,651 shares of the company’s stock valued at $264,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the period. Cobblestone Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Mondelez International by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Cobblestone Asset Management LLC now owns 4,982 shares of the company’s stock worth $361,000 after acquiring an additional 138 shares during the period. Graypoint LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Mondelez International by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 12,281 shares of the company’s stock worth $890,000 after acquiring an additional 138 shares during the period. Beacon Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Mondelez International by 15.9% during the 4th quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,019 shares of the company’s stock worth $71,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the period. Finally, Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Mondelez International by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC now owns 7,632 shares of the company’s stock worth $553,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the period. 78.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Mondelez International from $82.00 to $76.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 12th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Mondelez International from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of Mondelez International from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Mondelez International from $84.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Mondelez International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Mondelez International currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $80.89.

Mondelez International Stock Performance

Shares of MDLZ opened at $70.61 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.62. Mondelez International, Inc. has a twelve month low of $60.75 and a twelve month high of $78.59. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $70.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $70.61. The firm has a market cap of $95.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.45, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.56.

Mondelez International (NASDAQ:MDLZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The company reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.06. Mondelez International had a net margin of 13.77% and a return on equity of 15.91%. The company had revenue of $9.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.31 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.73 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Mondelez International, Inc. will post 3.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mondelez International Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 28th were issued a dividend of $0.425 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $1.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.41%. Mondelez International’s payout ratio is 46.83%.

Mondelez International Company Profile

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.