California Public Employees Retirement System Lowers Holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. $PEP

California Public Employees Retirement System reduced its stake in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 23.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,199,328 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,291,631 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned 0.31% of PepsiCo worth $589,754,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in PepsiCo during the second quarter worth approximately $27,000. JCIC Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of PepsiCo in the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC grew its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 107.1% during the 2nd quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 234 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 121 shares during the period. Imprint Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of PepsiCo during the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of PepsiCo by 667.7% in the 3rd quarter. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC now owns 238 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 207 shares during the period. 73.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

PepsiCo Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of PEP opened at $159.88 on Friday. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 12 month low of $127.60 and a 12 month high of $171.48. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $156.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $149.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The stock has a market cap of $218.50 billion, a PE ratio of 26.65, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.39.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 2nd. The company reported $2.26 EPS 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 return on equity of 57.92% and a net margin of 8.77%.The company’s revenue was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.96 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be paid a $1.4225 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. This represents a $5.69 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is 94.83%.

PepsiCo announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, February 3rd that allows the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 4.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on PEP. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on PepsiCo from $172.00 to $181.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Evercore lifted their price objective on PepsiCo from $152.00 to $165.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Argus upgraded PepsiCo to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $190.00 target price on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $169.00.

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.