PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) Position Boosted by Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its stake in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 8.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 206,845 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,783 shares during the period. PepsiCo comprises about 0.4% of Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $31,453,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Highline Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in PepsiCo during the third quarter worth about $28,000. Collier Financial acquired a new position in shares of PepsiCo during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in PepsiCo during the third quarter worth approximately $31,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in PepsiCo by 93.2% during the third quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 199 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Creative Capital Management Investments LLC bought a new stake in PepsiCo during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PEP has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $193.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $185.00 to $168.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. 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. Finally, HSBC decreased their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $186.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $171.47.

PepsiCo Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PEP opened at $153.85 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.82. The stock has a market cap of $211.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.14, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.54. PepsiCo, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $141.51 and a fifty-two week high of $183.41. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $148.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $161.98.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.02. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.43% and a return on equity of 58.87%. The firm had revenue of $27.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $27.89 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.78 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research 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. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $1.355 dividend. This represents a $5.42 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.99%.

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.