Handelsbanken Fonder AB Acquires 30,959 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 6.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 521,663 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 30,959 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $88,599,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its position in PepsiCo by 34.0% in the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 1,128,044 shares of the company’s stock worth $188,812,000 after purchasing an additional 286,169 shares in the last quarter. AMI Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in PepsiCo by 0.7% in the first quarter. AMI Investment Management Inc. now owns 16,627 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,783,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. raised its position in shares of PepsiCo by 29.3% during the 1st quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 5,562 shares of the company’s stock valued at $931,000 after acquiring an additional 1,262 shares during the last quarter. Wsfs Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 117.2% in the 1st quarter. Wsfs Capital Management LLC now owns 2,995 shares of the company’s stock valued at $501,000 after purchasing an additional 1,616 shares during the period. Finally, Equitable Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in PepsiCo by 8.5% in the first quarter. Equitable Holdings Inc. now owns 26,909 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,504,000 after buying an additional 2,116 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

PepsiCo Trading Up 1.1 %

PEP traded up $1.86 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $174.13. 6,636,697 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,502,704. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $168.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $167.45. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 52-week low of $155.83 and a 52-week high of $196.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $239.34 billion, a PE ratio of 26.50, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.53.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last issued its earnings results on Friday, February 9th. The company reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $27.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $28.40 billion. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 58.03% and a net margin of 9.92%. PepsiCo’s revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.67 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a $1.265 dividend. This represents a $5.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.02%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on PEP shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on PepsiCo from $181.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $195.00 price objective on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $199.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Argus lowered PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $180.00 price objective on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, PepsiCo currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $186.92.

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.