Principal Financial Group Inc. Reduces Position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 1.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,774,504 shares of the company’s stock after selling 20,969 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $301,754,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of PEP. M&G Plc grew its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 3.6% in the 2nd quarter. M&G Plc now owns 426,269 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,334,000 after purchasing an additional 14,724 shares during the last quarter. GFS Advisors LLC grew its position in PepsiCo by 13,209.4% in the 3rd quarter. GFS Advisors LLC now owns 72,270 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,290,000 after buying an additional 71,727 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Family Office LLC increased its stake in PepsiCo by 119.6% in the 3rd quarter. Fiduciary Family Office LLC now owns 6,843 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,164,000 after buying an additional 3,727 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in PepsiCo by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 387,155 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,853,000 after buying an additional 2,976 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Viking Fund Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 8.2% in the 3rd quarter. Viking Fund Management LLC now owns 66,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,223,000 after acquiring an additional 5,000 shares during the period. 73.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PEP has been the subject of several analyst reports. TD Cowen cut shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $190.00 to $183.00 in a report on Thursday, October 10th. DZ Bank cut PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $183.00 price target for the company. in a report on Friday, July 19th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on PepsiCo from $177.00 to $176.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 4th. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $190.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of PepsiCo to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $183.92.

PepsiCo Stock Down 0.4 %

PEP stock opened at $164.00 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.70. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 12 month low of $158.03 and a 12 month high of $183.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $225.01 billion, a PE ratio of 24.19, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.53. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $172.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $172.11.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 8th. The company reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.01. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 57.32% and a net margin of 10.18%. The firm had revenue of $23.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $23.86 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.25 EPS. PepsiCo’s quarterly revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Company 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.