Miguel Patricio Sells 125,000 Shares of Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) Stock

Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) insider Miguel Patricio sold 125,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.82, for a total transaction of $3,102,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 686,817 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,046,797.94. This represents a 15.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Kraft Heinz Stock Down 1.0%

Kraft Heinz stock opened at $24.51 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.01 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.57 and a beta of 0.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. Kraft Heinz Company has a twelve month low of $23.70 and a twelve month high of $33.35. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $24.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $26.14.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) last released its earnings results on Friday, July 8th. The company reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Kraft Heinz had a positive return on equity of 7.26% and a negative net margin of 17.35%.The firm had revenue of $6.39 billion during the quarter. As a group, equities analysts expect that Kraft Heinz Company will post 2.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kraft Heinz Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 28th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 28th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.5%. Kraft Heinz’s payout ratio is currently -42.90%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its position in shares of Kraft Heinz by 172.4% during the second quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 1,245 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 788 shares during the last quarter. Anfield Capital Management LLC grew its position in Kraft Heinz by 256.7% during the 3rd quarter. Anfield Capital Management LLC now owns 1,270 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 914 shares during the last quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. grew its position in Kraft Heinz by 164.7% during the 2nd quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 1,297 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 807 shares during the last quarter. Banque Transatlantique SA acquired a new position in Kraft Heinz in the first quarter valued at $40,000. Finally, Mid American Wealth Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Kraft Heinz in the second quarter valued at about $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on shares of Kraft Heinz from $27.00 to $26.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on Kraft Heinz from $30.00 to $28.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Zacks Research downgraded Kraft Heinz from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Thursday, November 13th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on Kraft Heinz from $29.00 to $27.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Kraft Heinz from $27.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $26.63.

About Kraft Heinz

The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ: KHC) is a global food and beverage company formed in 2015 through the merger of Kraft Foods Group and H.J. Heinz Company. The combination created one of the largest packaged-food companies in the world, built around well-known consumer brands. The merger was supported by major investors and established a multi-national platform for branded food products.

Kraft Heinz develops, manufactures, markets and distributes a broad portfolio of branded packaged foods and condiments.