Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Acquires 172,634 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. $PEP

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 6.6% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,771,558 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 172,634 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $365,957,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of PEP. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in PepsiCo by 12.4% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 59,392 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,031,000 after purchasing an additional 6,574 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP increased its stake in PepsiCo by 10.8% in the 1st quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 74,002 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,096,000 after buying an additional 7,218 shares during the last quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of PepsiCo by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 43,657 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,546,000 after buying an additional 780 shares in the last quarter. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of PepsiCo in the first quarter valued at approximately $90,000. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC increased its position in shares of PepsiCo by 7.4% during the first quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 962,264 shares of the company’s stock valued at $144,267,000 after acquiring an additional 66,336 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on PEP. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on PepsiCo from $161.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 10th. Loop Capital set a $164.00 target price on PepsiCo in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $153.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $175.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 11th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $160.00 to $162.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $156.95.

PepsiCo Price Performance

NASDAQ PEP opened at $142.95 on Friday. 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 company has a market cap of $195.46 billion, a PE ratio of 27.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.56 and a beta of 0.45. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 52 week low of $127.60 and a 52 week high of $166.88. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $145.31 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $139.75.

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

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.