Clearbridge Investments LLC Purchases 372,419 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP - Free Report) by 26.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,755,099 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 372,419 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC owned approximately 0.13% of PepsiCo worth $266,880,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in PEP. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of PepsiCo during the 4th quarter valued at $44,301,000. RWA Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in PepsiCo by 11.6% in the 4th quarter. RWA Wealth Partners LLC now owns 239,231 shares of the company's stock valued at $36,377,000 after acquiring an additional 24,923 shares during the last quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new position in shares of PepsiCo during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 15.2% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 4,516,146 shares of the company's stock worth $686,725,000 after purchasing an additional 595,257 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Money Management LLC lifted its stake in PepsiCo by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. American Money Management LLC now owns 26,873 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,086,000 after purchasing an additional 738 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.07% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on PEP. CICC Research reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $180.00 to $160.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com lowered shares of PepsiCo from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective 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, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on PepsiCo from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, PepsiCo presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $169.88.

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PepsiCo Stock Performance

Shares of PEP traded down $0.98 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $148.69. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,527,927 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,884,378. PepsiCo, Inc. has a one year low of $141.51 and a one year high of $183.41. The stock's 50-day moving average is $149.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $157.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $203.93 billion, a PE ratio of 21.39, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 (NASDAQ:PEP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 return on equity of 58.87% and a net margin of 10.43%. The company's quarterly revenue was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.78 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a $1.355 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.65%. PepsiCo's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.