PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) Shares Sold by Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lessened its position in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP - Free Report) by 6.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 193,439 shares of the company's stock after selling 13,406 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund's holdings in PepsiCo were worth $29,004,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of PEP. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,376,133 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in 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 acquiring an additional 582,254 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 18.1% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 25,217,043 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,834,504,000 after purchasing an additional 3,856,193 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of PepsiCo during the fourth quarter worth $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 purchasing an additional 1,306,818 shares in the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

Shares of PepsiCo stock traded up $2.82 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $131.04. The company's stock had a trading volume of 26,530,795 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,966,823. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.13, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.83. PepsiCo, Inc. has a one year low of $127.60 and a one year high of $180.91. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $132.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $143.22. The stock has a market cap of $179.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.68 and a beta of 0.45.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 58.28% and a net margin of 10.24%. The business's revenue was down 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.61 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The business 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 dividend of $1.4225 per share. This is an increase from PepsiCo's previous quarterly dividend of $1.36. This represents a $5.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.34%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. PepsiCo's dividend payout ratio is presently 83.68%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PEP has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of PepsiCo from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $171.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a $148.00 price target on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Tuesday. Barclays dropped their price objective on PepsiCo from $143.00 to $135.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. Dbs Bank cut PepsiCo from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $170.00 to $160.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $159.75.

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.