4,268 Shares in PepsiCo, Inc. $PEP Acquired by World Equity Group Inc.

World Equity Group Inc. acquired a new stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 4,268 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $613,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of PepsiCo during the second quarter valued at $2,330,594,000. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in PepsiCo by 120.7% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 5,916,417 shares of the company’s stock valued at $830,902,000 after purchasing an additional 3,235,726 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 112.6% in the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 4,040,079 shares of the company’s stock valued at $533,452,000 after purchasing an additional 2,139,847 shares during the last quarter. Amundi grew its position in shares of PepsiCo by 30.0% during the 3rd quarter. Amundi now owns 8,641,588 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,207,230,000 after buying an additional 1,995,362 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 60.2% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 5,051,114 shares of the company’s stock worth $709,378,000 after buying an additional 1,897,865 shares during the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on PEP. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Rothschild & Co Redburn upped their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. TD Cowen increased their price target on PepsiCo from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. BNP Paribas Exane set a $191.00 price target on PepsiCo in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on PepsiCo from $154.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $169.00.

PepsiCo Price Performance

Shares of PEP opened at $151.73 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $158.67 and a 200 day simple moving average of $149.97. 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. The firm has a market capitalization of $207.36 billion, a PE ratio of 25.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.39.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 2nd. The company reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $28.96 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.96 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th will be issued a dividend of $1.4225 per share. This represents a $5.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 94.83%.

PepsiCo declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Tuesday, February 3rd that permits the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 4.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.