Mondelez International (NASDAQ:MDLZ) Stock Rating Raised to “Buy” at Freedom Broker

Mondelez International (NASDAQ:MDLZ) was upgraded by investment analysts at Freedom Broker from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $71.00 price objective on the stock. Freedom Broker‘s target price indicates a potential upside of 9.33% from the stock’s current price.

MDLZ has been the topic of a number of other reports. Barclays raised their price target on Mondelez International from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 16th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Mondelez International from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $66.00 price objective on shares of Mondelez International in a report on Monday, October 26th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Mondelez International from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $73.00 price target (up from $70.00) on shares of Mondelez International in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $69.83.

Mondelez International Price Performance

Shares of MDLZ opened at $64.94 on Friday. Mondelez International has a twelve month low of $51.20 and a twelve month high of $66.65. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $61.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $60.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $82.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.49, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Mondelez International (NASDAQ:MDLZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 29th. The company reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.71 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $9.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.98 billion. Mondelez International had a net margin of 10.22% and a return on equity of 14.18%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.73 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Mondelez International will post 3.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Dirk Van de Put sold 133,580 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.08, for a total transaction of $8,559,806.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,326,488 shares in the company, valued at $85,001,351.04. This trade represents a 9.15% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.45% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mondelez International

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Deutsche Bank AG raised its position in Mondelez International by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 13,016,006 shares of the company’s stock valued at $752,846,000 after purchasing an additional 140,351 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Mondelez International by 10.8% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,435,171 shares of the company’s stock worth $543,900,000 after purchasing an additional 916,235 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in Mondelez International by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,458,056 shares of the company’s stock worth $487,522,000 after purchasing an additional 106,636 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Mondelez International by 0.7% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,777,181 shares of the company’s stock valued at $218,472,000 after purchasing an additional 25,926 shares during the period. Finally, Swiss National Bank increased its stake in Mondelez International by 6.8% in the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 3,786,924 shares of the company’s stock valued at $218,278,000 after purchasing an additional 241,100 shares during the period. 78.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mondelez International Company Profile

Mondelez International, Inc (NASDAQ: MDLZ) is a global snack-food company that develops, manufactures, markets and sells branded products in categories including biscuits, chocolate, baked snacks, cheese and grocery items. Its portfolio includes well-known brands such as Oreo, Ritz, Chips Ahoy!, belVita, CLIF, Cadbury, Milka, Toblerone and Trident.

The company sells its products through retailers, wholesalers, e-commerce channels and other distribution networks. Mondelez serves consumers in more than 150 countries, with operations and brands tailored to markets across North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa.

Mondelez was formed in 2012 when Kraft Foods separated its global snack-food business from its North American grocery operations.