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

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP - Free Report) by 8.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. 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. owned approximately 0.17% of PepsiCo worth $346,904,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in PepsiCo by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 133,371,504 shares of the company's stock worth $20,280,471,000 after acquiring an additional 1,376,133 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 57,268,030 shares of the company's stock worth $9,738,429,000 after purchasing an additional 2,775,679 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 30,497,268 shares of the company's stock worth $5,170,529,000 after purchasing an additional 543,558 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in PepsiCo by 18.1% during 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. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in 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 worth $2,130,841,000 after buying an additional 689,383 shares during the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on PEP shares. TD Cowen decreased their target price on PepsiCo from $183.00 to $160.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Citigroup cut their price objective on PepsiCo from $195.00 to $170.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Barclays cut shares of PepsiCo from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $168.00 to $156.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of PepsiCo from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their price target for the company from $171.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, BNP Paribas reduced their target price on PepsiCo from $162.00 to $160.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, PepsiCo has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $169.88.

PepsiCo Trading Down 0.3 %

NASDAQ:PEP traded down $0.40 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $149.27. 8,549,260 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,875,691. The company's 50 day moving average is $149.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $158.03. The company has a market capitalization of $204.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.52. PepsiCo, Inc. has a twelve month low of $141.51 and a twelve month high of $183.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share (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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $27.89 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.78 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.63%. PepsiCo's payout ratio is presently 77.99%.

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.