South Dakota Investment Council Lowers Position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

South Dakota Investment Council decreased its position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 1.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 35,318 shares of the company’s stock after selling 700 shares during the period. South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $5,998,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA boosted its holdings in PepsiCo by 80.5% during the fourth quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 157 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Life Planning Partners Inc purchased a new stake in PepsiCo during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Naples Money Management LLC purchased a new stake in PepsiCo during the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in PepsiCo during the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Avion Wealth boosted its holdings in PepsiCo by 61.7% during the fourth quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 241 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $183.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Citigroup upgraded shares of PepsiCo from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $180.00 to $195.00 in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $199.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. StockNews.com cut shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Argus cut shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $187.33.

PepsiCo Stock Up 3.4 %

Shares of PEP stock traded up $5.77 on Wednesday, hitting $176.99. The stock had a trading volume of 6,397,338 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,800,756. The firm has a market capitalization of $243.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.53. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $168.84 and its 200-day moving average is $167.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.85. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 52-week low of $155.83 and a 52-week high of $196.88.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $18.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.08 billion. PepsiCo had a net margin of 9.92% and a return on equity of 58.03%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.50 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.15 earnings per share for the current year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st were issued a $1.265 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $5.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.86%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.02%.

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.