Fisher Asset Management LLC Buys 183,291 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. $PEP

Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 8,295,329 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 183,291 shares during the quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $1,190,546,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PEP. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of PepsiCo by 120.7% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 5,916,417 shares of the company’s stock worth $830,902,000 after acquiring an additional 3,235,726 shares during the last quarter. Amundi raised 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 worth $1,207,230,000 after acquiring an additional 1,995,362 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of PepsiCo by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 138,483,870 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,875,205,000 after acquiring an additional 1,612,652 shares during the last quarter. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec raised its position in shares of PepsiCo by 151.7% during the third quarter. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec now owns 2,597,986 shares of the company’s stock worth $364,861,000 after acquiring an additional 1,565,883 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in shares of PepsiCo by 406.0% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 1,789,959 shares of the company’s stock worth $256,895,000 after acquiring an additional 1,436,216 shares during the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PEP has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup raised their price objective on PepsiCo from $170.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. BNP Paribas Exane raised their price objective on PepsiCo from $191.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Rothschild & Co Redburn lifted their target price on PepsiCo from $130.00 to $132.00 in a report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on PepsiCo from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 18th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $170.11.

Key Stories Impacting PepsiCo

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 Stock Performance

Shares of PEP stock opened at $150.57 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $205.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.64, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.38. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $154.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $152.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.90. PepsiCo, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $127.60 and a fifty-two week high of $171.48.

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

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

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

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

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.