5,458 Shares in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) Purchased by River Global Investors LLP

River Global Investors LLP purchased a new stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 5,458 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $927,000.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PEP. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 18,423,845 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,121,736,000 after buying an additional 920,032 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,878,022 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,859,812,000 after buying an additional 595,357 shares in the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 17.9% in the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 9,664,323 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,641,389,000 after buying an additional 1,470,064 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 9.1% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,316,036 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,239,629,000 after buying an additional 608,321 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG raised its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 6,774,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,147,922,000 after buying an additional 142,243 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PEP has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup upgraded PepsiCo from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $180.00 to $195.00 in a research report on Monday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on PepsiCo from $178.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Barclays increased their price target on PepsiCo from $184.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley upgraded PepsiCo from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $187.42.

PepsiCo Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of PEP stock traded up $0.70 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $176.15. 3,492,120 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,328,097. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $170.14 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $168.46. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 1-year low of $155.83 and a 1-year high of $196.88. The company has a market cap of $242.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.09. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 57.37% and a net margin of 10.00%. The firm had revenue of $18.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.08 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.50 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be issued a $1.355 dividend. This is an increase from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.27. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is presently 76.09%.

PepsiCo Profile

PepsiCo, Inc engages in the manufacture, marketing, distribution, and sale of various beverages and convenient foods worldwide. The company operates through seven segments: Frito-Lay North America; Quaker Foods North America; PepsiCo Beverages North America; Latin America; Europe; Africa, Middle East and South Asia; and Asia Pacific, Australia and New Zealand and China Region.