Mizuho Markets Americas LLC Sells 806,010 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. $PEP

Mizuho Markets Americas LLC lessened its stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 75.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 255,942 shares of the company’s stock after selling 806,010 shares during the quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $36,733,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in PepsiCo by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 138,483,870 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,875,205,000 after buying an additional 1,612,652 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in PepsiCo by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 59,499,819 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,356,155,000 after acquiring an additional 1,079,970 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 7.6% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 13,617,747 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,912,476,000 after acquiring an additional 958,701 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi lifted its position in shares of PepsiCo by 30.0% during 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PEP has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Evercore upped their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $165.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Rothschild & Co Redburn lifted their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $130.00 to $132.00 in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Citigroup upped their target price on PepsiCo from $170.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. UBS Group decreased their price target on PepsiCo from $190.00 to $186.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on PepsiCo from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 18th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $170.11.

PepsiCo Stock Up 1.2%

PEP opened at $150.57 on Friday. PepsiCo, Inc. has a twelve month low of $127.60 and a twelve month high of $171.48. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $154.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $152.45. The stock has a market cap of $205.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.64, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The company reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.55 by $0.06. PepsiCo had a net margin of 9.15% and a return on equity of 56.61%. The company had revenue of $19.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.89 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.48 EPS. PepsiCo’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.63 earnings per share for the current year.

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

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be given a dividend of $1.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $5.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.9%. This is a boost from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is currently 89.32%.

PepsiCo News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting PepsiCo this week:

• Positive Sentiment: PepsiCo extended and revised its licensing and bottling arrangements with Varun Beverages in India through 2049, while also giving the partner more freedom to pursue non-PepsiCo ventures. The longer-term deal should help protect distribution in a key growth market and reduce partnership uncertainty. Varun Beverages, PepsiCo revise licencing deal
• Positive Sentiment: PepsiCo is also being highlighted by market commentary as a strong growth stock and a defensive blue-chip income name, reinforcing investor interest in the company’s earnings stability and dividend profile. Here’s Why PepsiCo (PEP) is a Strong Growth Stock
• Neutral Sentiment: PepsiCo launched new products and initiatives, including a functional ready-to-drink tea and a greenhouse program in Asia-Pacific, which support its innovation story but are unlikely to move the stock on their own. PepsiCo adds functional RTD tea
• Neutral Sentiment: The company is also moving ahead with sustainability and regenerative agriculture efforts, which may help long-term brand positioning but are not immediate earnings catalysts. PepsiCo enters regen ag pact with LDC
• Negative Sentiment: Industry coverage continues to flag margin pressure from higher sugar, packaging and freight costs, along with tariff uncertainty. That backdrop could weigh on profitability for PepsiCo and other soft drink makers if costs stay elevated. 5 Soft Drinks Stocks to Track Amid Margin & Tariff Pressures
• Negative Sentiment: PepsiCo said it will raise prices on some smaller chip bags to offset increased costs. While this may help margins, it can also pressure volume and suggests inflation remains a headwind. Lay’s and Doritos maker to raise prices on small bags of chips

PepsiCo Company Profile

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.