Franklin Resources Inc. Sells 736,293 Shares of The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC)

Franklin Resources Inc. lessened its stake in The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) by 5.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,772,565 shares of the company’s stock after selling 736,293 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Kraft Heinz were worth $472,329,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Kraft Heinz by 23.4% during the 4th quarter. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,424 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares in the last quarter. Archer Investment Corp boosted its position in shares of Kraft Heinz by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 14,709 shares of the company’s stock valued at $544,000 after purchasing an additional 294 shares in the last quarter. Ingalls & Snyder LLC boosted its position in shares of Kraft Heinz by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Ingalls & Snyder LLC now owns 10,005 shares of the company’s stock valued at $370,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its holdings in Kraft Heinz by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 14,663 shares of the company’s stock worth $542,000 after acquiring an additional 307 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Econ Financial Services Corp boosted its holdings in Kraft Heinz by 0.6% in the third quarter. Econ Financial Services Corp now owns 53,310 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,793,000 after acquiring an additional 310 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on KHC. Citigroup began coverage on Kraft Heinz in a report on Thursday, February 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $43.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America increased their price target on Kraft Heinz from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Kraft Heinz from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Kraft Heinz from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $39.50.

Kraft Heinz Price Performance

NASDAQ:KHC traded up $0.10 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $35.88. 2,927,168 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,933,729. The firm has a market cap of $43.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.65. The Kraft Heinz Company has a 52 week low of $30.68 and a 52 week high of $39.34. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $36.52 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $36.15. The company has a quick ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.01. Kraft Heinz had a return on equity of 7.41% and a net margin of 10.62%. The company had revenue of $6.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.43 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.68 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that The Kraft Heinz Company will post 3.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kraft Heinz Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 6th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 6th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.46%. Kraft Heinz’s payout ratio is 69.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kraft Heinz

In other Kraft Heinz news, insider Lande Rashida La sold 10,140 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.95, for a total transaction of $364,533.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 158,266 shares in the company, valued at $5,689,662.70. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

Kraft Heinz 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.