Generali Asset Management SPA SGR Takes $14.53 Million Position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Generali Asset Management SPA SGR purchased a new stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 95,529 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,526,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in PepsiCo by 104.2% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,705,574 shares of the company’s stock worth $259,350,000 after purchasing an additional 870,451 shares during the last quarter. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV raised its position in shares of PepsiCo by 12.8% in 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 purchasing an additional 4,712 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 11.0% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 350,225 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,549,000 after acquiring an additional 34,633 shares in the last quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Guinness Asset Management LTD grew its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 1,236,788 shares of the company’s stock valued at $188,031,000 after acquiring an additional 61,541 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PEP opened at $151.34 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $148.86 and a 200-day moving average of $159.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $207.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.78, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05. PepsiCo, Inc. has a twelve month low of $141.51 and a twelve month high of $183.41.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $27.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $27.89 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.78 EPS. PepsiCo’s revenue for the quarter was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $1.355 dividend. This represents a $5.42 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is currently 77.99%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PEP has been the topic of several research reports. TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $183.00 to $160.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $184.00 to $178.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. HSBC decreased their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $186.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Piper Sandler began coverage on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $171.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $171.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $170.59.

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.