California Public Employees Retirement System Trims Stock Holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. $PEP

California Public Employees Retirement System lessened its holdings in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 23.5% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 4,199,328 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,291,631 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $589,754,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in PEP. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of PepsiCo during the second quarter worth approximately $27,000. JCIC Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in PepsiCo in the third quarter valued at $27,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC raised its holdings in PepsiCo by 107.1% in the second quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 234 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. Imprint Wealth LLC bought a new position in PepsiCo during the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC grew its holdings in PepsiCo by 667.7% during the 3rd quarter. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC now owns 238 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 207 shares in the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

PepsiCo Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PEP opened at $159.88 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $218.50 billion, a PE ratio of 26.65, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.39. PepsiCo, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $127.60 and a fifty-two week high of $171.48. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $156.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $149.69. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 2nd. The company reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.24 by $0.02. PepsiCo had a net margin of 8.77% and a return on equity of 57.92%. The firm had revenue of $29.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $28.96 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.96 earnings per share. PepsiCo’s revenue was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th will be issued a $1.4225 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. This represents a $5.69 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 94.83%.

PepsiCo announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Tuesday, February 3rd that authorizes the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 4.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PEP has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on PepsiCo from $172.00 to $181.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Friday, January 9th. BNP Paribas Exane reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Argus upgraded PepsiCo to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, PepsiCo has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $169.00.

PepsiCo Profile

PepsiCo, Inc (NASDAQ: PEP) is a multinational food and beverage company headquartered in Purchase, New York. The company develops, manufactures, markets and sells a broad portfolio of branded food and beverage products, including carbonated and noncarbonated soft drinks, bottled water, sports drinks, juices, ready-to-drink teas and coffees, salty snacks, cereals, and other convenient foods. Its leading consumer brands include Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Gatorade, Tropicana, Quaker, Lay’s, Doritos and Cheetos, among others.

Formed through the 1965 merger of Pepsi-Cola and Frito-Lay, PepsiCo has grown into a global business with integrated manufacturing, distribution and marketing operations.