Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC Takes $44.30 Million Position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 291,341 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,301,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PEP. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 133,371,504 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,280,471,000 after purchasing an additional 1,376,133 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 5.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 57,268,030 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,738,429,000 after buying an additional 2,775,679 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 1.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 30,497,268 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,170,529,000 after buying an additional 543,558 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 18.1% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 25,217,043 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,834,504,000 after acquiring an additional 3,856,193 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in PepsiCo during the 4th quarter worth $2,729,565,000. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

PepsiCo Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ PEP opened at $149.27 on Friday. 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, Inc. has a 1 year low of $141.51 and a 1 year high of $183.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $204.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.48, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $149.25 and a 200-day moving average price of $158.03.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last issued 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 firm had revenue of $27.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $27.89 billion. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 58.87% and a net margin of 10.43%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.78 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

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 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.99%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on PEP. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on PepsiCo from $185.00 to $168.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Barclays cut shares of PepsiCo from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $168.00 to $156.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. CICC Research reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Friday, February 7th. UBS Group lowered their target price on PepsiCo from $193.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their price target on PepsiCo from $183.00 to $160.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, PepsiCo currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $169.88.

PepsiCo Company 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.