Rakuten Investment Management Inc. Invests $835,000 in Kraft Heinz Company $KHC

Rakuten Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 32,060 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $835,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Kraft Heinz by 0.4% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 102,435,702 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,644,890,000 after buying an additional 454,868 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in Kraft Heinz by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 46,376,394 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,197,438,000 after purchasing an additional 462,963 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Kraft Heinz by 14.7% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 26,446,203 shares of the company’s stock worth $681,663,000 after purchasing an additional 3,392,470 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Kraft Heinz by 7.1% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 17,584,674 shares of the company’s stock worth $454,036,000 after purchasing an additional 1,171,262 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in Kraft Heinz by 75.1% during the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 13,694,483 shares of the company’s stock worth $351,263,000 after purchasing an additional 5,873,967 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Kraft Heinz news, insider Miguel Patricio sold 125,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.82, for a total transaction of $3,102,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 686,817 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,046,797.94. This represents a 15.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Kraft Heinz from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on Kraft Heinz from $28.00 to $25.00 in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Exane BNP Paribas downgraded Kraft Heinz from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Kraft Heinz in a research note on Thursday. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their price target on Kraft Heinz from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $26.16.

Key Stories Impacting Kraft Heinz

Here are the key news stories impacting Kraft Heinz this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Unusually large call-option volume — Traders bought roughly 72,473 call options in a single session, a ~158% jump versus average daily call volume, suggesting speculative or hedged bullish positioning that can lift near-term demand for the shares. Options Activity Report
• Positive Sentiment: Short-term market beat — Coverage noting the stock “lapped the market” points to modest positive momentum in recent sessions, which can attract momentum traders after the sell-off. KHC Laps the Market
• Neutral Sentiment: Institutional pressure/ownership changes — Analysis pieces argue institutional holders may be at a “tipping point” and discuss implications if big holders shift strategy; useful context but not immediate catalysts on their own. Institutional Investors Tipping Point
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysis on Berkshire’s role — Articles examining whether Berkshire is “out of the equation” provide strategic context for valuation and buyout/speculation narratives; they inform longer-term investor views rather than cause immediate price moves. Berkshire May Be Out Of The Equation
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst downgrade by Exane/BNP Paribas — The firm cut KHC to an underperform/strong-sell view, a catalyst for selling pressure and weaker sentiment among income/value managers. Rating Lowered to Underperform at BNP Paribas Exane
• Negative Sentiment: Pessimistic JPMorgan forecast — JPMorgan published a downbeat outlook for KHC’s stock price, adding to analyst-driven headwinds and reinforcing downside expectations. JPMorgan Issues Pessimistic Forecast
• Negative Sentiment: Berkshire stake sale and share-price impact — Reports that Berkshire may sell a large stake (and related coverage that Buffett’s successor is moving on the position) have driven a sharp decline and pushed shares to multi‑year lows, a major negative fundamental/headline catalyst. Shares Hit Six-Year Low on Berkshire’s Potential Stake Sale

Kraft Heinz Stock Up 2.1%

KHC opened at $23.20 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.73. Kraft Heinz Company has a 12 month low of $21.99 and a 12 month high of $33.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.46 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.22 and a beta of 0.09. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $24.29 and a 200-day simple moving average of $25.70.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.04. Kraft Heinz had a positive return on equity of 7.26% and a negative net margin of 17.35%.The firm had revenue of $6.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.27 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.75 earnings per share. Kraft Heinz’s revenue was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Kraft Heinz has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.500-2.57 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Kraft Heinz Company will post 2.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kraft Heinz Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 26th. Investors of record on Friday, November 28th were paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 28th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.9%. Kraft Heinz’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -42.90%.

Kraft Heinz Company Profile

The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ: KHC) is a global food and beverage company formed in 2015 through the merger of Kraft Foods Group and H.J. Heinz Company. The combination created one of the largest packaged-food companies in the world, built around well-known consumer brands. The merger was supported by major investors and established a multi-national platform for branded food products.

Kraft Heinz develops, manufactures, markets and distributes a broad portfolio of branded packaged foods and condiments.