Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Sells 34,792 Shares of Kellanova $K

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Kellanova (NYSE:K) by 2.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,597,505 shares of the company’s stock after selling 34,792 shares during the quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. owned about 0.46% of Kellanova worth $131,778,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in K. Grove Bank & Trust bought a new position in Kellanova during the first quarter worth $25,000. Financial Network Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Kellanova during the first quarter worth $25,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Kellanova during the first quarter worth $27,000. EQ Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Kellanova during the first quarter worth $49,000. Finally, Dagco Inc. bought a new position in Kellanova during the first quarter worth $49,000. 83.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Kellogg W. K. Foundation Trust sold 114,599 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.55, for a total transaction of $9,116,350.45. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 45,097,438 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,587,501,192.90. This represents a 0.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 1,145,846 shares of company stock worth $91,267,778 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Kellanova Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of Kellanova stock opened at $79.62 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $79.77 and a 200-day moving average of $81.12. The stock has a market cap of $27.68 billion, a PE ratio of 20.90, a PEG ratio of 4.92 and a beta of 0.27. Kellanova has a 52-week low of $77.70 and a 52-week high of $83.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.68.

Kellanova (NYSE:K) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $0.94 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.99 by ($0.05). Kellanova had a return on equity of 32.54% and a net margin of 10.56%.The firm had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.19 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.01 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Kellanova will post 3.93 EPS for the current year.

Kellanova Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.58 per share. This is a positive change from Kellanova’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 2nd. Kellanova’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 60.89%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on K shares. Citigroup raised shares of Kellanova to a “neutral” rating and set a $83.50 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Kellanova from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on shares of Kellanova in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $83.50 target price for the company. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat.com, Kellanova currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $83.38.

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.