PepsiCo, Inc. $PEP Shares Acquired by Erste Asset Management GmbH

Erste Asset Management GmbH raised its position in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 98.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 253,561 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 126,083 shares during the quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $36,525,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of PEP. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in PepsiCo during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,018,813,000. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in PepsiCo by 120.7% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 5,916,417 shares of the company’s stock valued at $830,902,000 after buying an additional 3,235,726 shares in the last quarter. Amundi raised its stake in PepsiCo by 30.0% during the third quarter. Amundi now owns 8,641,588 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,207,230,000 after buying an additional 1,995,362 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in PepsiCo by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 138,483,870 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,875,205,000 after buying an additional 1,612,652 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec raised its stake in PepsiCo by 151.7% during the third quarter. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec now owns 2,597,986 shares of the company’s stock valued at $364,861,000 after buying an additional 1,565,883 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PEP has been the topic of several research reports. TD Cowen upped their price objective on PepsiCo from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. UBS Group cut their price objective on PepsiCo from $190.00 to $186.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on PepsiCo from $160.00 to $150.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday. BNP Paribas Exane upped their target price on PepsiCo from $191.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on PepsiCo from $172.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 17th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $169.58.

PepsiCo Price Performance

NASDAQ:PEP opened at $141.92 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $193.97 billion, a PE ratio of 22.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.35. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $152.21 and a 200-day moving average of $152.54. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 52 week low of $127.60 and a 52 week high of $171.48. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The company reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.55 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $19.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.89 billion. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 56.61% and a net margin of 9.15%.The business’s revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.48 earnings per share. Analysts predict that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.63 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th will be issued a $1.48 dividend. 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.2%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is currently 92.94%.

About PepsiCo

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.