Vontobel Holding Ltd. Has $458.32 Million Stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 62.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,014,101 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,157,835 shares during the period. PepsiCo accounts for about 1.6% of Vontobel Holding Ltd.’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest position. Vontobel Holding Ltd. owned about 0.22% of PepsiCo worth $458,324,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in PEP. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 17,113.0% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,220,385 shares of the company’s stock worth $547,626,000 after acquiring an additional 3,201,676 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in PepsiCo by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 57,268,030 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,738,429,000 after purchasing an additional 2,775,679 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in PepsiCo by 21.1% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 13,021,316 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,293,049,000 after purchasing an additional 2,264,445 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB boosted its position in PepsiCo by 211.4% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,345,467 shares of the company’s stock valued at $398,847,000 after buying an additional 1,592,343 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 360.0% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,697,742 shares of the company’s stock worth $258,158,000 after buying an additional 1,328,672 shares during the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

PepsiCo Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of PEP stock opened at $144.58 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $198.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.80, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.54. PepsiCo, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $141.51 and a fifty-two week high of $183.41. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $150.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $163.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 0.82.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.02. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.43% and a return on equity of 58.87%. The business had revenue of $27.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $27.89 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.78 earnings per share. PepsiCo’s revenue was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.34 earnings per share for the current year.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $1.355 per share. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 77.99%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on PEP. HSBC cut their price objective on PepsiCo from $186.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Royal Bank of Canada initiated coverage on PepsiCo in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. They set a $172.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group lowered their price objective on PepsiCo from $193.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. CICC Research reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $183.00 to $165.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $171.47.

About PepsiCo

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.