Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd Increases Stake in The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC)

Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd grew its position in shares of The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) by 74.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 117,382 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 50,000 shares during the quarter. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd’s holdings in Kraft Heinz were worth $4,341,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in KHC. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Kraft Heinz by 10.7% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 24,601,098 shares of the company’s stock worth $827,581,000 after purchasing an additional 2,369,080 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Kraft Heinz by 86.0% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,627,569 shares of the company’s stock valued at $155,671,000 after purchasing an additional 2,140,153 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in Kraft Heinz by 3,167.3% in the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,869,778 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,198,000 after purchasing an additional 1,812,551 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in Kraft Heinz by 7.2% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 12,580,726 shares of the company’s stock valued at $423,216,000 after purchasing an additional 850,326 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC grew its holdings in Kraft Heinz by 37.9% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,029,052 shares of the company’s stock valued at $101,897,000 after purchasing an additional 832,653 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Kraft Heinz

In other news, insider Lande Rashida La sold 10,140 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.95, for a total transaction of $364,533.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 158,266 shares in the company, valued at $5,689,662.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Kraft Heinz Stock Down 0.9 %

KHC traded down $0.33 during trading on Thursday, hitting $36.05. The company had a trading volume of 504,556 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,874,167. The company has a market cap of $43.78 billion, a PE ratio of 15.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.65. The business has a 50-day moving average of $36.58 and a 200-day moving average of $36.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 0.61. The Kraft Heinz Company has a 1-year low of $30.68 and a 1-year high of $38.97.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 10.62% and a return on equity of 7.41%. The firm had revenue of $6.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.43 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.68 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that The Kraft Heinz Company will post 3.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Kraft Heinz Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 6th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 6th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.44%. Kraft Heinz’s dividend payout ratio is currently 69.87%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on KHC. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Kraft Heinz in a report on Thursday, February 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $43.00 target price for the company. Piper Sandler raised shares of Kraft Heinz from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $42.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Kraft Heinz from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Kraft Heinz from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Kraft Heinz from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Kraft Heinz presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $40.08.

About Kraft Heinz

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.