PepsiCo, Inc. $PEP Stock Holdings Lifted by BNP Paribas

BNP Paribas lifted its holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 50.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 61,326 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 20,603 shares during the period. BNP Paribas’ holdings in PepsiCo were worth $8,802,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of PEP. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 3.6% in the third 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 period. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 11.4% during the fourth quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 415,271 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,600,000 after purchasing an additional 42,335 shares during the period. Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 622.3% during the fourth quarter. Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc. now owns 35,603 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,110,000 after purchasing an additional 30,674 shares during the period. Allstate Corp boosted 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 period. Finally, NEOS Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 65.8% during the third quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 577,111 shares of the company’s stock worth $81,049,000 after purchasing an additional 229,121 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 a number of recent analyst reports. Rothschild & Co Redburn lifted their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $130.00 to $132.00 in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $169.00 to $173.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $190.00 to $186.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $180.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Eight investment 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. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $170.11.

PepsiCo Trading Down 1.9%

Shares of PepsiCo stock opened at $141.52 on Tuesday. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 52-week low of $127.60 and a 52-week high of $171.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $152.90 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $152.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $193.43 billion, a PE ratio of 22.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.38.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The company reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.89 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.48 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.63 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be paid a $1.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.2%. This is a boost from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is presently 92.94%.

PepsiCo declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Tuesday, February 3rd that authorizes the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 4.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

About PepsiCo

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.