Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Has $18.77 Million Stock Position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 12.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 122,510 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 13,857 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in PepsiCo were worth $18,767,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 5.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 57,268,030 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,738,429,000 after buying an additional 2,775,679 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 30,497,268 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,170,529,000 after purchasing an additional 543,558 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 18.1% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 25,217,043 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,834,504,000 after purchasing an additional 3,856,193 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in PepsiCo by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 14,013,158 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,130,841,000 after purchasing an additional 689,383 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in PepsiCo by 21.1% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 13,021,316 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,293,049,000 after buying an additional 2,264,445 shares during the period. 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. HSBC dropped their price target on PepsiCo from $186.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on PepsiCo from $183.00 to $160.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the company from $171.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $180.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $195.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $169.88.

PepsiCo Trading Down 1.2 %

PEP opened at $145.45 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $199.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $149.04 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $159.22. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 1-year low of $141.51 and a 1-year high of $183.41.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.02. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 58.87% and a net margin of 10.43%. The business had revenue of $27.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $27.89 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.78 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $1.355 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.73%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.99%.

PepsiCo Company 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.