Ninety One SA PTY Ltd Buys 12,087 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Ninety One SA PTY Ltd increased its stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 21.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 67,294 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,087 shares during the period. PepsiCo comprises about 1.7% of Ninety One SA PTY Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Ninety One SA PTY Ltd’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $11,416,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in PepsiCo by 95,514.1% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 42,876,248 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,746,023,000 after purchasing an additional 42,831,405 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in PepsiCo during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,519,707,000. Morgan Stanley raised its position in PepsiCo by 21.0% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 26,720,027 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,827,240,000 after purchasing an additional 4,629,947 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of PepsiCo by 9,623.6% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,058,061 shares of the company’s stock worth $519,381,000 after acquiring an additional 3,026,611 shares in the last quarter. Finally, J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of PepsiCo in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $329,179,000. Institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

PepsiCo Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of PepsiCo stock traded up $2.28 on Thursday, reaching $171.76. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,549,999 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,681,042. The company has a market capitalization of $236.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.53. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $168.58 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $167.38. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 52 week low of $155.83 and a 52 week high of $196.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last posted its earnings results on Friday, February 9th. The company reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $27.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $28.40 billion. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 58.03% and a net margin of 9.92%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.67 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.15 earnings per share for the current year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st were issued a $1.265 dividend. This represents a $5.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.95%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is currently 77.02%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on PEP. Morgan Stanley raised PepsiCo from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $195.00 target price on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Friday, February 9th. StockNews.com lowered PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Barclays increased their target price on PepsiCo from $183.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on PepsiCo from $199.00 to $209.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $186.92.

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.