Norges Bank Purchases New Position in PepsiCo, Inc. $PEP

Norges Bank acquired a new position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 17,650,663 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,330,594,000. Norges Bank owned 1.29% of PepsiCo as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in PepsiCo by 1.3% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 136,936,037 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,081,034,000 after acquiring an additional 1,761,785 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 32,675,492 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,301,240,000 after purchasing an additional 86,695 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of PepsiCo by 9.7% during the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 29,031,404 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,833,406,000 after buying an additional 2,556,163 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in PepsiCo by 19.5% in the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 15,577,073 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,056,797,000 after buying an additional 2,541,455 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its position in PepsiCo by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 11,525,812 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,728,180,000 after acquiring an additional 208,292 shares in the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on PEP shares. Bank of America raised their target price on PepsiCo from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 10th. DZ Bank raised PepsiCo from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $167.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $146.00 to $145.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 15th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $150.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, October 10th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $175.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 11th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $156.90.

PepsiCo Price Performance

Shares of PEP opened at $147.98 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $202.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.56 and a beta of 0.45. PepsiCo, Inc. has a twelve month low of $127.60 and a twelve month high of $165.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $145.87 and a 200 day moving average of $140.90.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 8th. The company reported $2.29 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.26 by $0.03. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 57.58% and a net margin of 7.82%.The business had revenue of $23.94 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $23.91 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.31 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 5th will be paid a dividend of $1.4225 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 5th. This represents a $5.69 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is currently 108.17%.

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.