Van ECK Associates Corp Purchases 1,328,672 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 360.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,697,742 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,328,672 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $258,158,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 9.2% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 99,785 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,968,000 after buying an additional 8,406 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in PepsiCo by 104.2% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,705,574 shares of the company’s stock valued at $259,350,000 after buying an additional 870,451 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 11.0% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 350,225 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,549,000 after buying an additional 34,633 shares during the period. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 12.8% during the fourth quarter. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 41,580 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,323,000 after acquiring an additional 4,712 shares during the period. Finally, IHT Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in PepsiCo by 19.3% in the third quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 32,267 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,493,000 after acquiring an additional 5,220 shares during the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

PepsiCo Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of PEP stock opened at $143.99 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 0.82. The stock has a market cap of $197.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.72, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.54. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 52-week low of $141.51 and a 52-week high of $183.41. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $150.73 and its 200-day moving average is $163.68.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $27.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.78 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.34 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $1.355 per share. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.99%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PEP has been the topic of a number of research reports. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $195.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. HSBC lowered their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $186.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Royal Bank of Canada started coverage on PepsiCo in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. They issued a $172.00 price target on the stock. BNP Paribas dropped their price objective on PepsiCo from $162.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on PepsiCo from $158.00 to $153.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price 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.