Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich lessened its stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP - Free Report) by 11.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 105,217 shares of the company's stock after selling 13,916 shares during the period. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich's holdings in PepsiCo were worth $15,116,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 120.7% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 5,916,417 shares of the company's stock valued at $830,902,000 after purchasing an additional 3,235,726 shares in the last quarter. Amundi raised its position in shares of PepsiCo by 30.0% during the 3rd quarter. Amundi now owns 8,641,588 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,207,230,000 after acquiring an additional 1,995,362 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in PepsiCo by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 138,483,870 shares of the company's stock worth $19,875,205,000 after purchasing an additional 1,612,652 shares during the period. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec raised its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 151.7% during the third quarter. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec now owns 2,597,986 shares of the company's stock worth $364,861,000 after purchasing an additional 1,565,883 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of PepsiCo by 406.0% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 1,789,959 shares of the company's stock worth $256,895,000 after buying an additional 1,436,216 shares during the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
PepsiCo Stock Performance
PEP stock opened at $148.67 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $155.55 and a 200 day simple moving average of $152.44. The company has a market capitalization of $203.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.34, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98. PepsiCo, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $127.60 and a fifty-two week high of $171.48.
PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The company reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.06. PepsiCo had a net margin of 9.15% and a return on equity of 56.61%. The company had revenue of $19.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.89 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.48 EPS. PepsiCo's revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
PepsiCo announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, February 3rd that allows the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 4.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.
PepsiCo Increases Dividend
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be given a dividend of $1.48 per share. This is a boost from PepsiCo's previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.0%. PepsiCo's payout ratio is 89.32%.
PepsiCo News Roundup
Here are the key news stories impacting PepsiCo this week:
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
PEP has been the topic of several research reports. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $172.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Wall Street Zen lowered PepsiCo from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, April 18th. TD Cowen increased their price target on PepsiCo from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. BNP Paribas Exane boosted their price objective on PepsiCo from $191.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Finally, Evercore raised their target price on PepsiCo from $165.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $170.37.
View Our Latest Stock Report on PepsiCo
PepsiCo Profile
(
Free Report)
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.
Further Reading
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.
Before you consider PepsiCo, you'll want to hear this.
MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and PepsiCo wasn't on the list.
While PepsiCo currently has a Hold rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.
View The Five Stocks Here
Click the link to see MarketBeat's list of seven best retirement stocks and why they should be in your portfolio.
Get This Free Report