PineStone Asset Management Inc. Purchases 395,075 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

PineStone Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 21.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 2,221,971 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 395,075 shares during the quarter. PepsiCo comprises about 3.2% of PineStone Asset Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. PineStone Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $337,873,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. AMF Tjanstepension AB boosted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 15.8% in the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 293,824 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,016,000 after acquiring an additional 40,031 shares during the period. Swedbank AB boosted its stake in PepsiCo by 211.4% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,345,467 shares of the company’s stock worth $398,847,000 after purchasing an additional 1,592,343 shares during the period. SPC Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of PepsiCo by 5.2% during the third quarter. SPC Financial Inc. now owns 3,032 shares of the company’s stock valued at $516,000 after buying an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. Bfsg LLC lifted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 1.6% in the third quarter. Bfsg LLC now owns 12,863 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,187,000 after buying an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Good Life Advisors LLC grew its stake in PepsiCo by 74.9% during the third quarter. Good Life Advisors LLC now owns 6,221 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,058,000 after acquiring an additional 2,664 shares in the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

PepsiCo Trading Down 0.8 %

NASDAQ PEP opened at $143.39 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $196.66 billion, a PE ratio of 20.63, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.54. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 12 month low of $141.51 and a 12 month high of $183.41. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $150.09 and its 200-day moving average price is $163.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.02. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.43% and a return on equity of 58.87%. The business had revenue of $27.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $27.89 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.78 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.34 earnings per share for the current year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $1.355 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.78%. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is currently 77.99%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PEP has been the subject of several research reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on PepsiCo from $183.00 to $160.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on PepsiCo from $180.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $184.00 to $178.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $171.47.

About PepsiCo

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.