Norges Bank Invests $2.73 Billion in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Norges Bank acquired a new position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 17,950,577 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,729,565,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Howard Capital Management Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 4,568 shares of the company’s stock worth $777,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. DRW Securities LLC lifted its stake in PepsiCo by 59.8% in the third quarter. DRW Securities LLC now owns 4,250 shares of the company’s stock worth $723,000 after purchasing an additional 1,591 shares during the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P grew its position in PepsiCo by 7.1% in the 3rd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 1,965 shares of the company’s stock valued at $334,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in PepsiCo by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,724,464 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,143,495,000 after buying an additional 281,318 shares during the period. Finally, Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 9.8% during the third quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 5,438 shares of the company’s stock valued at $925,000 after acquiring an additional 487 shares in the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

PepsiCo Trading Up 2.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PEP opened at $148.64 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $149.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $158.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $203.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.39, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.82. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 1-year low of $141.51 and a 1-year high of $183.41.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.02. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 58.87% and a net margin of 10.43%. The business had revenue of $27.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $27.89 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.78 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $1.355 per share. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.65%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.99%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on PEP shares. CICC Research restated a “market perform” rating on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Friday, February 7th. TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $183.00 to $160.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays cut shares of PepsiCo from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $168.00 to $156.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on PepsiCo from $183.00 to $165.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective on PepsiCo from $193.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $169.88.

PepsiCo 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.