Rakuten Securities Inc. Grows Position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 114.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 427 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 228 shares during the quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc.’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $65,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of PEP. Swedbank AB grew its stake in PepsiCo by 211.4% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,345,467 shares of the company’s stock worth $398,847,000 after buying an additional 1,592,343 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Group LLC grew its stake in PepsiCo by 2.0% during the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 4,568 shares of the company’s stock worth $777,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the period. WCM Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 329.3% in the third quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 5,933 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,009,000 after purchasing an additional 4,551 shares during the period. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd purchased a new position in shares of PepsiCo in the third quarter valued at $4,932,000. Finally, Baillie Gifford & Co. boosted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 5.6% in the third quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 708,275 shares of the company’s stock valued at $120,442,000 after purchasing an additional 37,308 shares during the period. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PEP has been the subject of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $185.00 to $168.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $153.00 to $168.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $171.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Wednesday. BNP Paribas cut their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $162.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $195.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $170.59.

PepsiCo Stock Down 2.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PEP opened at $148.17 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $203.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.52. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 1-year low of $141.51 and a 1-year high of $183.41. The company’s fifty day moving average is $148.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $160.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.82.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $27.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $27.89 billion. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.43% and a return on equity of 58.87%. The firm’s revenue was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.78 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $1.355 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.66%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is currently 77.99%.

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.