Tower Bridge Advisors Decreases Position in PepsiCo, Inc. $PEP

Tower Bridge Advisors decreased its position in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 3.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 88,186 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,344 shares during the quarter. PepsiCo accounts for 1.2% of Tower Bridge Advisors’ portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest position. Tower Bridge Advisors’ holdings in PepsiCo were worth $12,385,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 1.3% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 136,936,037 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,081,034,000 after purchasing an additional 1,761,785 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in PepsiCo by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 58,419,849 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,713,757,000 after buying an additional 920,045 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in PepsiCo by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 32,675,492 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,301,240,000 after acquiring an additional 86,695 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 9.7% in the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 29,031,404 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,833,406,000 after acquiring an additional 2,556,163 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of PepsiCo during the second quarter valued at approximately $2,330,594,000. 73.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

PepsiCo Stock Down 0.6%

PEP stock opened at $163.92 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $154.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $149.17. The stock has a market cap of $224.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.32, a PEG ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06. PepsiCo, Inc. has a twelve month low of $127.60 and a twelve month high of $171.48.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 2nd. The company reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.24 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $29.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $28.96 billion. PepsiCo had a net margin of 8.77% and a return on equity of 57.92%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.96 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, February 3rd that allows the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 4.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be paid a $1.4225 dividend. This represents a $5.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is presently 94.83%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on PEP. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $154.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on PepsiCo from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. BNP Paribas Exane set a $191.00 price objective on PepsiCo in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Evercore raised their target price on PepsiCo from $152.00 to $165.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Argus raised shares of PepsiCo to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $168.50.

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.