PepsiCo, Inc. $PEP Shares Sold by Payden & Rygel

Key Points

• Payden & Rygel cut its PepsiCo stake by 32.4% in the fourth quarter, selling 35,200 shares and leaving it with 73,400 shares valued at about $10.5 million.
• PepsiCo’s latest earnings beat expectations, reporting $1.61 EPS on $19.44 billion in revenue, with sales up 8.5% year over year. Analysts now expect the company to earn about $8.63 per share for the full fiscal year.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to $1.48 per share and maintained a $10 billion share repurchase program, reinforcing its appeal as an income stock even as analysts’ consensus rating remains Hold.

Payden & Rygel reduced its stake in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP - Free Report) by 32.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 73,400 shares of the company's stock after selling 35,200 shares during the quarter. Payden & Rygel's holdings in PepsiCo were worth $10,534,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of PEP. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted 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 worth $830,902,000 after acquiring an additional 3,235,726 shares during the period. Amundi increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 1,995,362 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in PepsiCo by 1.2% during 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 in the last quarter. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec lifted its position in PepsiCo by 151.7% in 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 boosted its stake in PepsiCo by 406.0% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 1,789,959 shares of the company's stock valued at $256,895,000 after purchasing an additional 1,436,216 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.07% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PEP has been the subject of several research analyst reports. UBS Group cut their price objective on PepsiCo from $190.00 to $186.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Citigroup lifted their target price on PepsiCo from $170.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Argus raised shares of PepsiCo to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, HSBC boosted their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $175.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, April 17th. 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's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $170.11.

PepsiCo Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of NASDAQ PEP opened at $149.06 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98. PepsiCo, Inc. has a one year low of $127.60 and a one year high of $171.48. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $155.02 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $152.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $203.73 billion, a PE ratio of 23.40, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.38.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The company reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 return on equity of 56.61% and a net margin of 9.15%.During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.48 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The business 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 is an increase from PepsiCo's previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $5.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.0%. PepsiCo's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 89.32%.

PepsiCo announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, February 3rd that permits the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 4.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Trending Headlines about PepsiCo

Here are the key news stories impacting PepsiCo this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Some market coverage points to PepsiCo as a possible momentum winner in consumer staples, suggesting investors are still rotating into defensive, dividend-paying names. Pepsi, Apple, and 9 More AI Momentum Trade Winners. Plus 4 Losers to Dump.
• Positive Sentiment: PepsiCo continues to screen as an attractive income stock, with recent dividend-focused articles reinforcing its status as a long-running dividend grower. From High-Yield to High-Growth: 3 Stocks Boosting Dividends
• Neutral Sentiment: Several recent pieces argue PepsiCo is fairly priced and not a bargain versus peers, which suggests limited near-term upside unless fundamentals improve further. PepsiCo: Fairly Priced, But Not A Deal Compared To Peers
• Negative Sentiment: Wells Fargo cut its price target on PepsiCo to $160 from $165 and kept an equal-weight rating, a sign that analysts see more limited near-term appreciation. Wells Fargo adjusts price target on PepsiCo to $160 from $165, maintains equalweight rating
• Negative Sentiment: One recent article noted PepsiCo has pulled back over the past week despite a strong first-quarter earnings report, which may be weighing on sentiment. PepsiCo's Next Big Rally Could Be Just Getting Started

PepsiCo 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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