CENTRAL TRUST Co Has $1.49 Million Stake in The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC)

CENTRAL TRUST Co decreased its stake in The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC – Get Rating) by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 44,655 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,664 shares during the quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co’s holdings in Kraft Heinz were worth $1,490,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of KHC. BlackRock Inc. boosted its stake in Kraft Heinz by 25.3% in the 3rd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 56,572,464 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,886,694,000 after buying an additional 11,428,520 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Kraft Heinz by 15.3% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,502,147 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,251,197,000 after purchasing an additional 8,948,708 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in Kraft Heinz by 96.5% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,312,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $524,360,000 after purchasing an additional 6,537,000 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Kraft Heinz by 301.2% in the third quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 6,416,759 shares of the company’s stock worth $213,999,000 after purchasing an additional 4,817,233 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Continental Grain Co. acquired a new position in Kraft Heinz in the second quarter worth $132,216,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.80% of the company’s stock.

Kraft Heinz Trading Down 0.1 %

NASDAQ KHC opened at $38.11 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $39.94 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.31. The company has a market capitalization of $46.68 billion, a PE ratio of 19.95, a P/E/G ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The Kraft Heinz Company has a 12 month low of $32.73 and a 12 month high of $44.87.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 15th. The company reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $7.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.23 billion. Kraft Heinz had a return on equity of 7.03% and a net margin of 8.92%. The firm’s revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.79 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that The Kraft Heinz Company will post 2.72 EPS for the current year.

Kraft Heinz Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 10th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 9th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.20%. Kraft Heinz’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 83.77%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Kraft Heinz from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 16th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Kraft Heinz from $41.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 17th. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on Kraft Heinz in a research note on Tuesday, January 3rd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $43.00 price target on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Kraft Heinz from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 6th. Finally, Mizuho upped their price target on Kraft Heinz from $48.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Friday, January 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Kraft Heinz has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $42.92.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kraft Heinz news, EVP Flavio Torres sold 250,571 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.58, for a total value of $9,917,600.18. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 188,983 shares in the company, valued at $7,479,947.14. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Kraft Heinz news, EVP Flavio Torres sold 250,571 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.58, for a total value of $9,917,600.18. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 188,983 shares in the company, valued at $7,479,947.14. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Melissa Werneck sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.39, for a total value of $148,365.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 266,583 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,300,453.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Kraft Heinz Profile

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The Kraft Heinz Co engages in the manufacture and market of food and beverage products. The firm operates through the following geographical segments: United States, Canada and International. Its brands include Oscar Meyer, Velveeta, Smart Ones, Caprisun, Kool-Aid, Golden circle and Honig. The company was founded on July 2, 2015, and is headquartered in Pittsburgh, PA.