Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Increases Stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. boosted its stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 2.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,073,449 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 26,593 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. owned about 0.08% of PepsiCo worth $182,315,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA raised its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 80.5% during the fourth quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 157 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Life Planning Partners Inc bought a new position in PepsiCo in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Naples Money Management LLC bought a new position in PepsiCo in the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in PepsiCo in the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC raised its holdings in PepsiCo by 812.0% in the fourth quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 228 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 203 shares in the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Ramkumar Krishnan sold 5,620 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.00, for a total transaction of $1,000,360.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 53,953 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,603,634. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PEP traded up $0.48 during trading on Friday, hitting $163.81. The company had a trading volume of 3,603,340 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,978,118. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $173.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $170.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $225.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.52. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 12 month low of $155.83 and a 12 month high of $192.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.86.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $18.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.08 billion. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 57.37% and a net margin of 10.00%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.50 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.16 earnings per share for the current year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be given a dividend of $1.355 per share. This is an increase from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.27. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is currently 81.50%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on PEP. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on PepsiCo from $178.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Argus cut PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on PepsiCo from $209.00 to $211.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 16th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $195.00 target price on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised PepsiCo from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $187.17.

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.