New York State Common Retirement Fund Reduces Position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

New York State Common Retirement Fund lessened its position in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 7.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,066,346 shares of the company’s stock after selling 161,199 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned about 0.15% of PepsiCo worth $350,948,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 18,423,845 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,121,736,000 after purchasing an additional 920,032 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,878,022 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,859,812,000 after purchasing an additional 595,357 shares during the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System grew its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 17.9% in the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 9,664,323 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,641,389,000 after purchasing an additional 1,470,064 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 9.1% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,316,036 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,239,629,000 after purchasing an additional 608,321 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG lifted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 6,774,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,147,922,000 after buying an additional 142,243 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on PEP shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on PepsiCo from $199.00 to $209.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Argus cut PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. StockNews.com cut PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $195.00 price target on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Friday, February 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised PepsiCo from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, March 18th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $186.92.

PepsiCo Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PEP traded up $2.33 during trading on Monday, reaching $176.46. The company had a trading volume of 7,287,246 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,755,849. PepsiCo, Inc. has a twelve month low of $155.83 and a twelve month high of $196.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $242.55 billion, a PE ratio of 26.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.53. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $168.68 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $167.44. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02.

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

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were given a $1.265 dividend. This represents a $5.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.87%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is currently 77.02%.

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.