Osprey Private Wealth LLC Raises Stock Position in PepsiCo, Inc. $PEP

Key Points

• Osprey Private Wealth LLC increased its PepsiCo stake by 32.4% in the fourth quarter, buying 9,505 additional shares and bringing its total to 38,855 shares worth about $5.6 million.
• Several other large institutions also raised their holdings, and institutional investors now own 73.07% of PepsiCo’s stock, signaling continued broad support from the market.
• PepsiCo reported solid quarterly results, beating earnings and revenue estimates, and it also raised its dividend to $1.48 per share while maintaining a $10 billion share repurchase program.

Osprey Private Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP - Free Report) by 32.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 38,855 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 9,505 shares during the period. PepsiCo makes up approximately 1.6% of Osprey Private Wealth LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Osprey Private Wealth LLC's holdings in PepsiCo were worth $5,576,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of PepsiCo by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 138,483,870 shares of the company's stock valued at $19,875,205,000 after purchasing an additional 1,612,652 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of PepsiCo by 1.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 59,499,819 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,356,155,000 after purchasing an additional 1,079,970 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of PepsiCo by 7.6% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 13,617,747 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,912,476,000 after purchasing an additional 958,701 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in shares of PepsiCo by 1.3% during the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,902,664 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,250,290,000 after purchasing an additional 118,286 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi grew its position in shares of PepsiCo by 30.0% during the third quarter. Amundi now owns 8,641,588 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,207,230,000 after purchasing an additional 1,995,362 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.07% of the company's stock.

Key PepsiCo News

Here are the key news stories impacting PepsiCo this week:

• Positive Sentiment: PepsiCo announced a new partnership in the UAE’s Future Industries Lab to support SMEs and young Emiratis, reinforcing its innovation and local investment strategy. MoIAT expands Future Industries Lab with new PepsiCo partnership supporting SMEs and young Emiratis
• Positive Sentiment: PepsiCo and TalusAg Renewables announced a low-carbon ammonia agreement, an ESG-oriented move that could improve supply-chain sustainability and appeal to investors focused on emissions reduction. PepsiCo and TalusAg Renewables announce low-carbon ammonia attribute agreement to help accelerate fertilizer decarbonization
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple articles highlighted PepsiCo’s continued investment in China and its focus on international growth, product innovation, and cost discipline, which supports the long-term bull case. PepsiCo to 'continue investing' in Chinese market

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on PEP shares. Rothschild & Co Redburn lifted their price target on PepsiCo from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Argus upgraded PepsiCo to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Citigroup lifted their price target on PepsiCo from $170.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. HSBC lifted their price target on PepsiCo from $175.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price target on PepsiCo from $172.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $170.26.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

PepsiCo stock opened at $154.62 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $157.25 and a 200-day moving average price of $152.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.90. PepsiCo, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $127.60 and a fifty-two week high of $171.48. The company has a market capitalization of $211.33 billion, a PE ratio of 24.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.38.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The company reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.55 by $0.06. PepsiCo had a net margin of 9.15% and a return on equity of 56.61%. The firm had revenue of $19.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.89 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.48 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.63 earnings per share for the current year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th will be paid a $1.48 dividend. This represents a $5.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. This is a positive change from PepsiCo's previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. PepsiCo's payout ratio is presently 89.32%.

PepsiCo declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, February 3rd that allows the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 4.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

PepsiCo Company Profile

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.

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