Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ Increases Position in PepsiCo, Inc. $PEP

Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ increased its position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 16.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 514,552 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 73,311 shares during the period. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $79,904,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its position in PepsiCo by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 554,798 shares of the company’s stock worth $77,916,000 after buying an additional 19,218 shares during the last quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 11.4% in the 4th quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 415,271 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,600,000 after acquiring an additional 42,335 shares during the last quarter. Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc. increased its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 622.3% in the fourth quarter. Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc. now owns 35,603 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,110,000 after acquiring an additional 30,674 shares during the period. Allstate Corp raised its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 108.1% during the fourth quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 104,723 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,030,000 after purchasing an additional 54,405 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service lifted its position in PepsiCo by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. National Pension Service now owns 3,143,939 shares of the company’s stock valued at $451,218,000 after purchasing an additional 77,051 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PEP has been the topic of several recent research reports. TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $165.00 to $150.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 12th. Citigroup lowered their target price on PepsiCo from $182.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on PepsiCo from $172.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 17th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $162.00 price target on PepsiCo in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on PepsiCo from $173.00 to $168.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $166.85.

PepsiCo Stock Down 1.9%

Shares of PEP opened at $138.68 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $148.00 and its 200 day moving average price is $152.02. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 12-month low of $130.59 and a 12-month high of $171.48. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98. The firm has a market cap of $189.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.35.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The company reported $1.61 earnings per share 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 firm posted $1.48 earnings per share. PepsiCo’s revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.62 earnings per share for the current year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th will be issued a $1.48 dividend. This is a boost from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.3%. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is 92.94%.

PepsiCo 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.