Prudential PLC Purchases 11,085 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Prudential PLC boosted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 333.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 14,408 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,085 shares during the period. Prudential PLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $2,191,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of PEP. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in PepsiCo by 104.2% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,705,574 shares of the company’s stock valued at $259,350,000 after acquiring an additional 870,451 shares during the last quarter. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 12.8% in the 4th quarter. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 41,580 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,323,000 after purchasing an additional 4,712 shares in the last quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD increased its position in PepsiCo by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 1,236,788 shares of the company’s stock worth $188,031,000 after purchasing an additional 61,541 shares in the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in PepsiCo by 147.6% in the 4th quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 14,692 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,229,000 after purchasing an additional 8,759 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Everence Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in PepsiCo by 48.2% in the fourth quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 56,089 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,529,000 after buying an additional 18,250 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

PepsiCo Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PEP opened at $146.61 on Monday. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 1-year low of $141.51 and a 1-year high of $183.41. The stock has a market cap of $201.05 billion, a PE ratio of 21.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.49. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $149.33 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $156.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.02. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 58.87% and a net margin of 10.43%. The firm had revenue of $27.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $27.89 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.78 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $1.355 per share. This represents a $5.42 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.70%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 77.99%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on PEP. Citigroup dropped their price target on PepsiCo from $195.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. TD Cowen reduced their price target on PepsiCo from $183.00 to $160.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays downgraded shares of PepsiCo from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $168.00 to $156.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on PepsiCo from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, HSBC dropped their price objective on PepsiCo from $186.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $169.88.

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.