Bank of Montreal Can Grows Holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Bank of Montreal Can raised its position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 2.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,658,983 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 102,853 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $556,385,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in PepsiCo by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 133,371,504 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,280,471,000 after acquiring an additional 1,376,133 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 31,079,522 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,717,069,000 after purchasing an additional 582,254 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in PepsiCo by 18.1% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 25,217,043 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,834,504,000 after purchasing an additional 3,856,193 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in PepsiCo during the fourth quarter valued at $2,729,565,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 14,013,158 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,130,841,000 after buying an additional 689,383 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

PepsiCo Stock Down 3.1 %

Shares of PEP opened at $146.61 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $201.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.09, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.49. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 1 year low of $141.51 and a 1 year high of $183.41. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $149.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $156.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.65.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last released its 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. The company had revenue of $27.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $27.89 billion. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.43% and a return on equity of 58.87%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.78 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $1.355 per share. This represents a $5.42 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.70%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.99%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on PepsiCo from $185.00 to $168.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. HSBC lowered their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $186.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on PepsiCo from $184.00 to $178.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com cut PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, PepsiCo has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $169.88.

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.