PepsiCo, Inc. $PEP Shares Purchased by DNB Asset Management AS

DNB Asset Management AS boosted its stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 4.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 786,442 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 31,487 shares during the period. DNB Asset Management AS owned 0.06% of PepsiCo worth $112,870,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. raised its holdings in PepsiCo by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. now owns 79,740 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,444,000 after purchasing an additional 3,990 shares in the last quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI raised its holdings in PepsiCo by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 339,899 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,782,000 after purchasing an additional 11,943 shares in the last quarter. WHI TRUST Co LLC purchased a new position in PepsiCo during the fourth quarter worth about $215,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its holdings in PepsiCo by 554.8% during the fourth quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 460,460 shares of the company’s stock worth $66,092,000 after purchasing an additional 390,136 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Advisors of Iowa LLC raised its holdings in PepsiCo by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Advisors of Iowa LLC now owns 1,928 shares of the company’s stock worth $277,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PepsiCo Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of PEP opened at $149.12 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $155.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $152.42. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 1-year low of $127.60 and a 1-year high of $171.48. The stock has a market cap of $203.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.38.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 15th. The company reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.06. PepsiCo had a net margin of 9.15% and a return on equity of 56.61%. The business had revenue of $19.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.89 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.48 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, February 3rd that allows the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 4.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be paid 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.0%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is 89.32%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on PEP. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $180.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $154.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $172.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 17th. BNP Paribas Exane increased their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $191.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 17th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $170.37.

PepsiCo 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.