Mondelez International (NASDAQ:MDLZ) Price Target Cut to $71.00 by Analysts at Citigroup

Mondelez International (NASDAQ:MDLZ) had its target price trimmed by Citigroup from $78.00 to $71.00 in a research note released on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the stock.

MDLZ has been the topic of several other reports. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $61.00 price objective (down from $74.00) on shares of Mondelez International in a research report on Tuesday. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Mondelez International from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Mondelez International from $74.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Mondelez International from $79.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered Mondelez International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $78.00 to $67.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $77.64.

Mondelez International Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MDLZ opened at $58.29 on Wednesday. Mondelez International has a 52-week low of $57.67 and a 52-week high of $77.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a current ratio of 0.63. The company has a market capitalization of $77.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $63.04 and a 200 day simple moving average of $67.71.

Mondelez International (NASDAQ:MDLZ) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.99 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $9.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.11 billion. Mondelez International had a return on equity of 17.53% and a net margin of 10.58%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.82 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Mondelez International will post 3.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Mondelez International announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to buyback $9.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 10.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Mondelez International Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a $0.47 dividend. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.23%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. Mondelez International’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.67%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

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

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.