Kellanova (NYSE:K) Shares Sold by Korea Investment CORP

Korea Investment CORP lessened its stake in Kellanova (NYSE:K) by 12.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 159,696 shares of the company’s stock after selling 22,403 shares during the quarter. Korea Investment CORP’s holdings in Kellanova were worth $12,931,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Kellanova by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 32,435,744 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,626,322,000 after purchasing an additional 281,137 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Kellanova by 5.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 14,725,420 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,188,489,000 after purchasing an additional 731,273 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Kellanova by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,725,532 shares of the company’s stock worth $541,052,000 after buying an additional 196,564 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Kellanova by 134.7% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,800,363 shares of the company’s stock valued at $145,309,000 after buying an additional 1,033,383 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Kellanova by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,680,912 shares of the company’s stock valued at $136,103,000 after buying an additional 50,303 shares during the last quarter. 83.87% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on K shares. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Kellanova in a research report on Friday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Royal Bank of Canada cut Kellanova from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $77.96.

Kellanova Stock Performance

NYSE:K opened at $82.43 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.56. The firm has a market cap of $28.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.21 and a beta of 0.31. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $82.24 and its 200 day moving average price is $81.34. Kellanova has a 1-year low of $55.01 and a 1-year high of $83.22.

Kellanova (NYSE:K) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by $0.61. Kellanova had a net margin of 10.53% and a return on equity of 37.25%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Kellanova will post 3.93 EPS for the current year.

Kellanova Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.77%. Kellanova’s dividend payout ratio is currently 58.91%.

Insider Activity at Kellanova

In other news, major shareholder Kellogg W. K. Foundation Trust sold 114,583 shares of Kellanova stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.42, for a total transaction of $9,329,347.86. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 48,534,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,951,715,140.48. This trade represents a 0.24 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 1,260,413 shares of company stock worth $103,473,032 over the last three months. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Kellanova

Kellanova, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and markets snacks and convenience foods in North America, Europe, Latin America, the Asia Pacific, the Middle East, Australia, and Africa. Its principal products include crackers, crisps, savory snacks, toaster pastries, cereal bars, granola bars and bites, ready-to-eat cereals, frozen waffles, veggie foods, and noodles.