Capital Research Global Investors Sells 616,311 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. $PEP

Capital Research Global Investors reduced its position in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 10.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,432,304 shares of the company’s stock after selling 616,311 shares during the quarter. Capital Research Global Investors owned approximately 0.40% of PepsiCo worth $779,647,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its position in shares of PepsiCo by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 554,798 shares of the company’s stock worth $77,916,000 after buying an additional 19,218 shares during the period. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd grew its position in shares of PepsiCo by 11.4% in the 4th quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 415,271 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,600,000 after buying an additional 42,335 shares during the period. Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc. grew its position in shares of PepsiCo by 622.3% in the 4th quarter. Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc. now owns 35,603 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,110,000 after buying an additional 30,674 shares during the period. Allstate Corp grew its position in shares of PepsiCo by 108.1% in the 4th quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 104,723 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,030,000 after buying an additional 54,405 shares during the period. Finally, NEOS Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of PepsiCo by 65.8% in the 3rd quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 577,111 shares of the company’s stock worth $81,049,000 after buying an additional 229,121 shares during the period. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

Shares of PEP stock opened at $141.92 on Monday. PepsiCo, Inc. has a one year low of $127.60 and a one year high of $171.48. The company’s 50-day moving average is $152.21 and its 200 day moving average is $152.54. The company has a market capitalization of $193.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.90.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 15th. The company reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.55 by $0.06. PepsiCo had a net margin of 9.15% and a return on equity of 56.61%. The company had revenue of $19.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.89 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.48 EPS. PepsiCo’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th will be given a dividend of $1.48 per share. This is a positive change from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.2%. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is currently 92.94%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on PEP shares. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $190.00 to $186.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Argus raised shares of PepsiCo to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. BNP Paribas Exane upped their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $191.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $172.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $169.58.

PepsiCo Company Profile

PepsiCo, Inc (NASDAQ: PEP) is a multinational food and beverage company headquartered in Purchase, New York. The company develops, manufactures, markets and sells a broad portfolio of branded food and beverage products, including carbonated and noncarbonated soft drinks, bottled water, sports drinks, juices, ready-to-drink teas and coffees, salty snacks, cereals, and other convenient foods. Its leading consumer brands include Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Gatorade, Tropicana, Quaker, Lay’s, Doritos and Cheetos, among others.

Formed through the 1965 merger of Pepsi-Cola and Frito-Lay, PepsiCo has grown into a global business with integrated manufacturing, distribution and marketing operations.