Van ECK Associates Corp Trims Stock Holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. $PEP

Van ECK Associates Corp lowered its position in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,948,540 shares of the company’s stock after selling 13,142 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $414,093,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in PepsiCo by 1.3% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 136,936,037 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,081,034,000 after acquiring an additional 1,761,785 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of PepsiCo by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 58,419,849 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,713,757,000 after purchasing an additional 920,045 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in PepsiCo by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 32,675,492 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,301,240,000 after buying an additional 86,695 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in PepsiCo by 9.7% in the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 29,031,404 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,833,406,000 after acquiring an additional 2,556,163 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of PepsiCo during the second quarter valued at $2,330,594,000. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

PepsiCo Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:PEP opened at $161.53 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $155.39 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $149.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $220.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.92, a PEG ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.39. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 52-week low of $127.60 and a 52-week high of $171.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.85.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 2nd. The company reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.24 by $0.02. PepsiCo had a net margin of 8.77% and a return on equity of 57.92%. The firm had revenue of $29.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $28.96 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.96 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be given a $1.4225 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. This represents a $5.69 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 94.83%.

PepsiCo announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, February 3rd that authorizes the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 4.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on PEP. Argus upgraded shares of PepsiCo to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Friday, January 9th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $190.00 price target on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Rothschild & Co Redburn boosted their target price on PepsiCo from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of PepsiCo from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $168.50.

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.