PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) Shares Sold by UniSuper Management Pty Ltd

UniSuper Management Pty Ltd reduced its stake in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 8.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 364,631 shares of the company’s stock after selling 33,465 shares during the period. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $55,446,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in PEP. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of PepsiCo in the 4th quarter worth approximately $589,307,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in PepsiCo by 18.1% in the fourth 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 last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position 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. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 21.1% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 13,021,316 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,293,049,000 after buying an additional 2,264,445 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of PepsiCo by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 133,371,504 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,280,471,000 after buying an additional 1,376,133 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PEP has been the topic of several research reports. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $193.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. StockNews.com cut PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Jefferies Financial Group cut PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $171.00 to $170.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Barclays cut PepsiCo from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $168.00 to $156.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $184.00 to $178.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, PepsiCo has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $169.88.

PepsiCo Trading Up 2.1 %

NASDAQ PEP opened at $148.64 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $203.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.39, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.82. PepsiCo, Inc. has a one year low of $141.51 and a one year high of $183.41. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $149.16 and its 200 day moving average price is $158.43.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last announced 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 net margin of 10.43% and a return on equity of 58.87%. The firm had revenue of $27.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $27.89 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.78 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $1.355 dividend. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.65%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.99%.

PepsiCo 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.