Wells Fargo & Company MN Lowers Holdings in The Campbell Soup Company (NASDAQ:CPB)

Wells Fargo & Company MN reduced its stake in shares of The Campbell Soup Company (NASDAQ:CPB) by 6.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 173,826 shares of the company’s stock after selling 11,398 shares during the quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN’s holdings in Campbell Soup were worth $7,280,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Campbell Soup by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,625,605 shares of the company’s stock valued at $989,440,000 after purchasing an additional 447,203 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in Campbell Soup by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 9,247,213 shares of the company’s stock valued at $387,273,000 after purchasing an additional 531,281 shares during the period. Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. increased its position in shares of Campbell Soup by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. now owns 6,925,365 shares of the company’s stock valued at $290,034,000 after buying an additional 35,160 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Campbell Soup by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,323,332 shares of the company’s stock worth $222,420,000 after buying an additional 57,717 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of Campbell Soup by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,237,992 shares of the company’s stock valued at $177,487,000 after buying an additional 199,470 shares in the last quarter. 52.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Campbell Soup Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of CPB stock opened at $37.53 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. The Campbell Soup Company has a twelve month low of $36.02 and a twelve month high of $52.81. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $39.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.82. The stock has a market cap of $11.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.51, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.19.

Campbell Soup (NASDAQ:CPB) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, March 5th. The company reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $2.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.74 billion. Campbell Soup had a net margin of 5.57% and a return on equity of 23.79%. The firm’s revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that The Campbell Soup Company will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Campbell Soup Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 28th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be given a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.16%. Campbell Soup’s dividend payout ratio is currently 90.17%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Charles A. Brawley III sold 2,498 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.03, for a total value of $99,994.94. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 37,590 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,504,727.70. This represents a 6.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 20.19% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on CPB shares. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Campbell Soup from $43.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Campbell Soup from $39.00 to $37.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. BNP Paribas upgraded Campbell Soup to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Campbell Soup from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $48.00 to $37.00 in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, DA Davidson dropped their price target on Campbell Soup from $46.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $44.86.

About Campbell Soup

Campbell Soup Company, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and markets food and beverage products in the United States and internationally. The company operates through Meals & Beverages and Snacks segments. The Meals & Beverages segment engages in the retail and foodservice businesses in the United States and Canada.