Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Purchases 15,400 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. $PEP

Key Points

• Fjarde AP Fonden increased its PepsiCo stake by 3.3% in the fourth quarter, buying 15,400 more shares and bringing its total holdings to 482,084 shares worth about $69.2 million.
• Other large institutional investors also added to PepsiCo positions, and hedge funds and other institutions now own 73.07% of the company’s stock.
• PepsiCo reported better-than-expected quarterly results with EPS of $1.61 and revenue of $19.44 billion, and it raised its quarterly dividend to $1.48 per share for a 4.2% annualized yield.

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund grew its stake in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP - Free Report) by 3.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 482,084 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 15,400 shares during the quarter. PepsiCo comprises about 0.6% of Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund's investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund's holdings in PepsiCo were worth $69,189,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 138,483,870 shares of the company's stock valued at $19,875,205,000 after acquiring an additional 1,612,652 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 59,499,819 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,356,155,000 after acquiring an additional 1,079,970 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 33,617,937 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,814,835,000 after acquiring an additional 360,936 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of PepsiCo during the 4th quarter valued at about $3,018,813,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 7.6% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 13,617,747 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,912,476,000 after acquiring an additional 958,701 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.07% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on PEP shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $160.00 to $150.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $172.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 17th. Argus raised shares of PepsiCo to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn raised their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $130.00 to $132.00 in a report on Monday, May 11th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $169.58.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

PEP opened at $141.92 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98. The company has a market cap of $193.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.28, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.35. The company's 50 day moving average is $152.21 and its 200 day moving average is $152.51. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 12-month low of $127.60 and a 12-month high of $171.48.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 15th. The company reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $19.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.89 billion. PepsiCo had a net margin of 9.15% and a return on equity of 56.61%. The firm's revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.48 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be paid a dividend of $1.48 per share. This represents a $5.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. This is a positive change from PepsiCo's previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. PepsiCo's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 89.32%.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding PEP? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.