Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Acquires 189,898 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 8.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 2,318,104 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 189,898 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $346,904,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of PEP. Collier Financial purchased a new position in shares of PepsiCo during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Creative Capital Management Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of PepsiCo in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of PepsiCo in the third quarter worth about $31,000. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PepsiCo during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Human Investing LLC bought a new stake in PepsiCo during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

Shares of PEP opened at $148.64 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $149.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $158.43. The stock has a market cap of $203.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.39, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.52. PepsiCo, Inc. has a one year low of $141.51 and a one year high of $183.41. 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 (NASDAQ:PEP) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.02. The company 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 quarterly revenue was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.78 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on PEP shares. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $171.00 to $170.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $183.00 to $160.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on PepsiCo from $180.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on PepsiCo from $184.00 to $178.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, CICC Research reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Friday, February 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, PepsiCo presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.