Amiral Gestion Purchases Shares of 72,818 PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Amiral Gestion bought a new position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 72,818 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,073,000. PepsiCo makes up 7.0% of Amiral Gestion's portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Ossiam increased its position in shares of PepsiCo by 138.9% during the fourth quarter. Ossiam now owns 73,604 shares of the company's stock worth $11,192,000 after acquiring an additional 42,793 shares in the last quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp increased its holdings in PepsiCo by 12.1% during the 4th quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 124,797 shares of the company's stock worth $18,977,000 after purchasing an additional 13,461 shares in the last quarter. Hutner Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 14.6% in the 4th quarter. Hutner Capital Management Inc. now owns 53,783 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,178,000 after purchasing an additional 6,865 shares during the period. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. bought a new stake in shares of PepsiCo in the fourth quarter valued at about $47,899,000. Finally, WCM Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of PepsiCo by 147.6% during the fourth quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 14,692 shares of the company's stock worth $2,229,000 after buying an additional 8,759 shares during the period. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $175.00 to $169.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 25th. Evercore ISI set a $140.00 price target on PepsiCo in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Jefferies Financial Group cut PepsiCo from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $171.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $158.00 to $159.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded PepsiCo from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $160.69.

PepsiCo Trading Up 0.0%

PepsiCo stock traded up $0.02 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $131.39. The stock had a trading volume of 2,742,134 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,489,297. PepsiCo, Inc. has a one year low of $127.75 and a one year high of $180.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05. The stock has a market cap of $180.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.92, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.47. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $138.84 and its 200-day simple moving average is $147.83.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.49 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $17.92 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.81 billion. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 58.87% and a net margin of 10.43%. The business's revenue was down 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.61 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be paid a $1.4225 dividend. This represents a $5.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.33%. This is a positive change from PepsiCo's previous quarterly dividend of $1.36. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. PepsiCo's payout ratio is currently 83.68%.

About PepsiCo

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.