Fairtree Asset Management Pty Ltd Makes New $711,000 Investment in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Fairtree Asset Management Pty Ltd bought a new position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 4,673 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $711,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in PepsiCo by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 133,371,504 shares of the company's stock valued at $20,280,471,000 after acquiring an additional 1,376,133 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of PepsiCo by 1.9% in the fourth 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% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 25,217,043 shares of the company's stock worth $3,834,504,000 after purchasing an additional 3,856,193 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in PepsiCo in the 4th quarter worth about $2,729,565,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in 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 buying an additional 1,306,818 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.07% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on PEP. Royal Bank of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $163.00 price objective on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Evercore ISI set a $140.00 price target on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on PepsiCo from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Barclays decreased their target price on PepsiCo from $143.00 to $135.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered PepsiCo from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. One 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's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $160.69.

PepsiCo Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:PEP traded down $0.30 on Friday, reaching $131.62. 12,988,871 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,558,275. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $137.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $147.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 52 week low of $127.75 and a 52 week high of $180.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $180.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.47.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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). PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.43% and a return on equity of 58.87%. The company had revenue of $17.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $17.81 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.61 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. This is a boost from PepsiCo's previous quarterly dividend of $1.36. This represents a $5.69 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.32%. PepsiCo's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.