Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Increases Stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 15.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,516,146 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 595,257 shares during the quarter. PepsiCo comprises about 0.5% of Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $686,725,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 1.0% during the 4th 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. State Street Corp raised its stake in PepsiCo by 5.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 57,268,030 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,738,429,000 after purchasing an additional 2,775,679 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in PepsiCo by 1.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 30,497,268 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,170,529,000 after purchasing an additional 543,558 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 18.1% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 25,217,043 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,834,504,000 after buying an additional 3,856,193 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of PepsiCo during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,729,565,000. 73.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

PEP stock opened at $149.27 on Friday. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 1-year low of $141.51 and a 1-year high of $183.41. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $149.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $158.03. The company has a market capitalization of $204.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.48, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.52. 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) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $27.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $27.89 billion. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.43% and a return on equity of 58.87%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.78 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The business 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 $1.355 dividend. This represents a $5.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is 77.99%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on PEP shares. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on PepsiCo from $185.00 to $168.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. BNP Paribas decreased their price target on PepsiCo from $162.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $171.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, HSBC dropped their target price on PepsiCo from $186.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, PepsiCo presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $169.88.

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.