North Star Asset Management Inc. Grows Holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

North Star Asset Management Inc. raised its position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 3.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 61,090 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,082 shares during the period. North Star Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $9,289,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in PepsiCo by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 133,371,504 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,280,471,000 after purchasing an additional 1,376,133 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in PepsiCo by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 31,079,522 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,717,069,000 after purchasing an additional 582,254 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in PepsiCo by 18.1% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 25,217,043 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,834,504,000 after purchasing an additional 3,856,193 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of PepsiCo during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,729,565,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 8.7% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,403,395 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,494,300,000 after acquiring an additional 1,306,818 shares during the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PEP has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $163.00 price objective on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $175.00 to $169.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. HSBC dropped their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $186.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $168.00 to $153.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, BNP Paribas dropped their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $162.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $160.69.

PepsiCo Stock Down 0.6%

NASDAQ PEP opened at $129.34 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $177.34 billion, a PE ratio of 18.61, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.47. PepsiCo, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $127.75 and a fifty-two week high of $180.91. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $139.53 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $148.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $17.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.81 billion. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 58.87% and a net margin of 10.43%. The firm’s revenue was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.61 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a $1.4225 dividend. This represents a $5.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.40%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. This is a boost from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.36. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is currently 83.68%.

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.