American Century Companies Inc. Has $351.74 Million Stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,313,136 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 40,920 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned approximately 0.17% of PepsiCo worth $351,735,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of PEP. Swedbank AB lifted its holdings in PepsiCo by 211.4% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,345,467 shares of the company’s stock valued at $398,847,000 after buying an additional 1,592,343 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Group LLC lifted its holdings in PepsiCo by 2.0% in the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 4,568 shares of the company’s stock valued at $777,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC lifted its holdings in PepsiCo by 8.4% in the third quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 1,844,337 shares of the company’s stock valued at $313,629,000 after buying an additional 142,191 shares during the period. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC lifted its holdings in PepsiCo by 1.7% in the third quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 64,562 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,979,000 after buying an additional 1,086 shares during the period. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in PepsiCo by 7.9% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 216,856 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,876,000 after buying an additional 15,821 shares during the period. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on PEP shares. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $193.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $180.00 to $160.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $184.00 to $178.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. BNP Paribas cut their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $162.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $183.00 to $165.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. One 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 data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $169.88.

PepsiCo Stock Down 1.2 %

PepsiCo stock opened at $145.45 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $199.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.52. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 1-year low of $141.51 and a 1-year high of $183.41. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $149.04 and a 200 day simple moving average of $159.22. 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 (NASDAQ:PEP) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.02. The business 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.78 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $1.355 dividend. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.73%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is currently 77.99%.

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.