Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Has $268.12 Million Stock Position in PepsiCo, Inc. $PEP

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lowered its position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 63.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,868,169 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,182,945 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned approximately 0.14% of PepsiCo worth $268,120,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in PepsiCo by 12.4% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 59,392 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,031,000 after purchasing an additional 6,574 shares in the last quarter. Caxton Associates LLP acquired a new stake in shares of PepsiCo in the first quarter worth about $251,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 138.5% during the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,527 shares of the company’s stock worth $862,000 after acquiring an additional 3,790 shares in the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. increased its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 10.1% during the 2nd quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 38,164 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,039,000 after acquiring an additional 3,502 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 6.2% in the 2nd quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 862,882 shares of the company’s stock valued at $113,935,000 after acquiring an additional 50,059 shares in the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PepsiCo Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of PEP stock opened at $150.88 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $206.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.39. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 1 year low of $127.60 and a 1 year high of $171.48. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $158.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $149.93. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 2nd. The company reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $28.96 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.96 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, February 3rd that permits the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy up to 4.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PEP has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on PepsiCo from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $172.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $164.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Friday, January 9th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $169.00.

About PepsiCo

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.