PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) Stake Reduced by Retirement Systems of Alabama

Retirement Systems of Alabama reduced its stake in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 552,306 shares of the company’s stock after selling 8,252 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $93,804,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cerity Partners LLC grew its stake in PepsiCo by 59.4% during the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 993,567 shares of the company’s stock worth $168,747,000 after buying an additional 370,122 shares during the last quarter. Harbour Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in PepsiCo by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Harbour Capital Advisors LLC now owns 27,446 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,747,000 after buying an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Meadow Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of PepsiCo in the fourth quarter worth $405,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 1.4% in the third quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 13,240 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,243,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC grew its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 34.5% in the fourth quarter. Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC now owns 12,317 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,091,000 after purchasing an additional 3,159 shares in the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PEP has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup raised PepsiCo from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $180.00 to $195.00 in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on PepsiCo from $199.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Morgan Stanley raised PepsiCo from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $180.00 target price on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on PepsiCo from $184.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $187.42.

PepsiCo Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ PEP traded down $1.10 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $175.58. 4,472,102 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,365,961. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.86. The stock has a market cap of $241.39 billion, a PE ratio of 26.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.53. The company’s fifty day moving average is $169.40 and its two-hundred day moving average is $167.88. PepsiCo, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $155.83 and a fifty-two week high of $196.88.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $18.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.08 billion. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 57.37% and a net margin of 10.00%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.50 EPS. On average, analysts expect that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.16 earnings per share for the current year.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were issued a $1.265 dividend. This represents a $5.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 76.09%.

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.