Machina Capital S.A.S. Raises Holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Machina Capital S.A.S. grew its position in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 20.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,540 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,272 shares during the quarter. Machina Capital S.A.S.’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $1,147,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of PEP. Collier Financial purchased a new position in PepsiCo in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Creative Capital Management Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of PepsiCo in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of PepsiCo during the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its holdings in PepsiCo by 93.2% in the 3rd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 199 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in PepsiCo in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on PEP. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on PepsiCo from $185.00 to $168.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. StockNews.com lowered shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. CICC Research reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Friday, February 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $184.00 to $178.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada began coverage on PepsiCo in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. They set a $172.00 target price for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, PepsiCo presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $172.35.

PepsiCo Stock Down 0.1 %

PEP stock opened at $154.44 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $148.80 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $160.96. 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, Inc. has a 1-year low of $141.51 and a 1-year high of $183.41. The firm has a market cap of $211.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.22, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.52.

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

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $1.355 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.51%. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is currently 77.99%.

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.