PepsiCo, Inc. $PEP Shares Purchased by Avanza Fonder AB

Avanza Fonder AB boosted its holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 6.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 158,084 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 9,431 shares during the quarter. PepsiCo makes up about 0.6% of Avanza Fonder AB’s holdings, making the stock its 28th largest position. Avanza Fonder AB’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $22,688,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 59,499,819 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,356,155,000 after acquiring an additional 1,079,970 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in PepsiCo during the second quarter worth approximately $2,330,594,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in PepsiCo by 7.6% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 13,617,747 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,912,476,000 after purchasing an additional 958,701 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in PepsiCo by 1.3% in the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,902,664 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,250,290,000 after purchasing an additional 118,286 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi increased its stake in PepsiCo by 30.0% in the third quarter. Amundi now owns 8,641,588 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,207,230,000 after purchasing an additional 1,995,362 shares during the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PepsiCo Trading Up 0.6%

NASDAQ:PEP opened at $150.88 on Tuesday. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 12-month low of $127.60 and a 12-month high of $171.48. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $158.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $149.93. The firm has a market cap of $206.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.15, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.39.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $29.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $28.96 billion. PepsiCo had a net margin of 8.77% and a return on equity of 57.92%. PepsiCo’s quarterly revenue was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.96 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be issued a $1.4225 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. This represents a $5.69 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.8%. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is presently 94.83%.

PepsiCo announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, February 3rd that permits the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 4.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on PEP. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $190.00 price target on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane set a $191.00 target price on PepsiCo in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price 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.