FORA Capital LLC Has $14.69 Million Position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

FORA Capital LLC grew its position in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP - Free Report) by 57.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 96,581 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 35,188 shares during the period. PepsiCo makes up 1.7% of FORA Capital LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. FORA Capital LLC's holdings in PepsiCo were worth $14,686,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in PepsiCo in the fourth quarter worth $2,729,565,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in PepsiCo in the fourth quarter worth $589,307,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in PepsiCo by 18.1% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 25,217,043 shares of the company's stock worth $3,834,504,000 after acquiring an additional 3,856,193 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in PepsiCo by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 133,371,504 shares of the company's stock worth $20,280,471,000 after acquiring an additional 1,376,133 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in PepsiCo by 360.0% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,697,742 shares of the company's stock worth $258,158,000 after acquiring an additional 1,328,672 shares in the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on PEP shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. CICC Research restated a "market perform" rating on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $155.00 to $150.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Evercore ISI set a $140.00 price target on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $168.00 to $153.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $160.69.

PepsiCo Trading Up 0.5%

PEP stock traded up $0.60 during trading on Monday, reaching $131.04. The company had a trading volume of 4,098,494 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,281,072. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 52 week low of $129.93 and a 52 week high of $183.41. The company has a market cap of $179.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.85, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.47. The business has a 50 day moving average of $143.73 and a 200 day moving average of $150.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.65.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.49 by ($0.01). PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.43% and a return on equity of 58.87%. The business had revenue of $17.92 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.81 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.61 EPS. PepsiCo's revenue for the quarter was down 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a dividend of $1.4225 per share. This represents a $5.69 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.34%. This is a positive change from PepsiCo's previous quarterly dividend of $1.36. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. PepsiCo's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 83.68%.

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.