Generali Investments Management Co LLC Acquires New Position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Generali Investments Management Co LLC acquired a new stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 13,558 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,062,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in PEP. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of PepsiCo during the fourth quarter valued at about $589,307,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of PepsiCo by 18.1% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 25,217,043 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,834,504,000 after buying an additional 3,856,193 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of PepsiCo by 5.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 57,268,030 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,738,429,000 after buying an additional 2,775,679 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of PepsiCo by 21.1% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 13,021,316 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,293,049,000 after buying an additional 2,264,445 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB grew its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 211.4% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,345,467 shares of the company’s stock worth $398,847,000 after purchasing an additional 1,592,343 shares in the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PEP opened at $148.99 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $204.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $148.94 and a 200-day moving average price of $159.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 12 month low of $141.51 and a 12 month high of $183.41.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last issued 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 during 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.78 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The business 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 dividend of $1.355 per share. This represents a $5.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.64%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is currently 77.99%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on PEP. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on PepsiCo from $183.00 to $165.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. BNP Paribas cut 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. Barclays lowered PepsiCo from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $168.00 to $156.00 in a report on Tuesday. CICC Research reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their target price on PepsiCo from $180.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, PepsiCo has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $169.88.

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.