Merit Financial Group LLC Acquires 3,986 Shares of The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC)

Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) by 46.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 12,573 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,986 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Kraft Heinz were worth $386,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in KHC. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Kraft Heinz by 11.5% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,307,598 shares of the company’s stock valued at $186,350,000 after acquiring an additional 545,504 shares during the period. Clifford Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Kraft Heinz by 21.4% during the second quarter. Clifford Capital Partners LLC now owns 454,884 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,656,000 after purchasing an additional 80,101 shares during the last quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise grew its holdings in shares of Kraft Heinz by 52.5% in the third quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 170,511 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,988,000 after purchasing an additional 58,665 shares during the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management grew its holdings in shares of Kraft Heinz by 229.8% in the fourth quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 342,880 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,530,000 after purchasing an additional 238,913 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Easterly Investment Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Kraft Heinz by 39.4% during the 3rd quarter. Easterly Investment Partners LLC now owns 157,479 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,529,000 after buying an additional 44,485 shares in the last quarter. 78.17% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Kraft Heinz news, EVP Pedro F. P. Navio sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.45, for a total transaction of $1,505,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 168,195 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,626,122.75. This represents a 21.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Kraft Heinz Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ KHC opened at $29.31 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 0.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $35.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.41, a PEG ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.48. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $30.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $33.13. The Kraft Heinz Company has a 12 month low of $28.37 and a 12 month high of $38.96.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.01. Kraft Heinz had a net margin of 5.24% and a return on equity of 7.46%. The business had revenue of $6.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.42 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.72 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that The Kraft Heinz Company will post 3 EPS for the current year.

Kraft Heinz Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. Kraft Heinz’s payout ratio is 144.14%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KHC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Kraft Heinz from $35.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $35.00 price target (down from $40.00) on shares of Kraft Heinz in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on Kraft Heinz from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of Kraft Heinz from $43.00 to $41.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Kraft Heinz from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Kraft Heinz presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $34.77.

Kraft Heinz Company Profile

The Kraft Heinz Company, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and markets food and beverage products in North America and internationally. Its products include condiments and sauces, cheese and dairy products, meals, meats, refreshment beverages, coffee, and other grocery products under the Kraft, Oscar Mayer, Heinz, Philadelphia, Lunchables, Velveeta, Ore-Ida, Maxwell House, Kool-Aid, Jell-O, Heinz, ABC, Master, Quero, Kraft, Golden Circle, Wattie's, Pudliszki, and Plasmon brands.