E Fund Management Co. Ltd. Sells 769 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

E Fund Management Co. Ltd. cut its stake in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 5.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 14,366 shares of the company’s stock after selling 769 shares during the period. E Fund Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $2,440,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in PepsiCo by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 19,001,928 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,227,287,000 after acquiring an additional 578,083 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in 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 holdings in PepsiCo by 17.9% during the fourth quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 9,664,323 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,641,389,000 after purchasing an additional 1,470,064 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 9.1% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,316,036 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,239,629,000 after acquiring an additional 608,321 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG raised its position in shares of PepsiCo by 2.1% in the third quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 6,774,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,147,922,000 after purchasing an additional 142,243 shares during the period. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

PepsiCo Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of PepsiCo stock traded up $0.65 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $178.06. The company had a trading volume of 2,419,686 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,631,904. The firm has a market cap of $244.79 billion, a PE ratio of 26.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.52. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $170.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $168.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.68. PepsiCo, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $155.83 and a fifty-two week high of $196.88.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $18.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.08 billion. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.00% and a return on equity of 57.37%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.50 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.16 earnings per share for the current year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th will be given a dividend of $1.355 per share. This is a positive change from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.27. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $5.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.04%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is presently 81.50%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $199.00 to $209.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $180.00 price target on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Monday, February 12th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Barclays raised their target price on PepsiCo from $184.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on PepsiCo from $181.00 to $184.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $187.42.

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.