PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) Stake Decreased by RWC Asset Management LLP

RWC Asset Management LLP decreased its position in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 5.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 217,565 shares of the company’s stock after selling 12,481 shares during the quarter. PepsiCo accounts for 2.2% of RWC Asset Management LLP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. RWC Asset Management LLP’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $36,951,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in PepsiCo by 9,623.6% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,058,061 shares of the company’s stock worth $519,381,000 after buying an additional 3,026,611 shares during the last quarter. J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in PepsiCo during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $329,179,000. Flossbach Von Storch AG boosted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 121.4% during the 4th quarter. Flossbach Von Storch AG now owns 2,727,622 shares of the company’s stock valued at $463,259,000 after buying an additional 1,495,586 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 17.9% during the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 9,664,323 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,641,389,000 after buying an additional 1,470,064 shares during the period. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 68.0% during the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,922,643 shares of the company’s stock valued at $496,382,000 after buying an additional 1,183,371 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on PEP. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $178.00 to $181.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley raised shares of PepsiCo from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, March 18th. StockNews.com lowered shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $195.00 target price on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $184.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $187.42.

PepsiCo Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PEP traded down $1.10 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $175.58. 4,472,102 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,365,961. The company has a market cap of $241.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.40, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.53. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $169.40 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $167.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.86. PepsiCo, Inc. has a twelve month low of $155.83 and a twelve month high of $196.88.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.09. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.00% and a return on equity of 57.37%. The company had revenue of $18.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.08 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.50 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a $1.265 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $5.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.88%. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is presently 76.09%.

PepsiCo Company 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.